Returning the Favor
by Ali Wenstern
Summary: Sophie, like her mother, meets and befriends Ali. Only this time, instead of saving her from Predators, she must save her from the Company wishing to turn Ali into a weapon. Sophie must learn the hard way about how much people change within Company walls.
1. Lost

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait, I really hoped to have had this story posted shortly after I finished my Creepalien story, but there's been a lot going on and something always seemed to interfere. Unfortunately, I feel like that's going to be happening a lot, so please bear with me! And, of course, the first chapter has to be short, sorry about that as well!**

**~Ali Wenstern**

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* * *

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Amber shuffled forward, stumbling in the dark, searching for someone that should be there. Her 24 year old son, Thomas, was waiting at the end of the alley with a flashlight to try and help his mother by providing a minimal amount of light.

"Mom?" Thomas called out to his mother, "Let's just go, you can barely see anything back there!"

"No, please, just a little longer," Amber said, "She'll be here, I know it!"

"She was just a story, Mom, just a story you used to tell us."

"No, no, that's not true!" Amber said.

Thomas sighed and walked into the alley after his mother. The flashlight shone on her and Amber cowered away from the bright light. Her hair had grayed early and was matted to her head, containing thousands of knots from lack of brushing. Her eyes had sunken into her head and black rings circled her eyes.

"Mom," Thomas said, taking his mother's arm, "You need to get back now. The doctors said you were only allowed out for an hour."

"But she's here, I can sense it!"

"Come on, Mom, the hospital is expecting you," Thomas said.

Amber went limp at that point and Thomas supported her back to the car outside the alley. He helped her into the passenger side of the car where she rested her head on the back headrest and sighed, closing her eyes. Thomas then ran around the front of the car to climb into the driver's side of the car. As the car started up and pulled away from the curb, a section of the darkness shifted, and a pair of dark blue eyes appeared.

* * *

"There you go, Ms. Amber," the white clad nurse said, helping Amber onto the hospital bed. Amber was muttering fervently to herself, her eyes glazed over.

"How's she been doing?" Thomas asked once the nurse had stepped out into the hallway.

"She's doing much better, but she still cries out at night. It's either Ali's name or Sophie's," the nurse said.

Thomas sighed. "Thank you very much," he said, "Just make sure she gets some sleep."

"Yes, sir," the nurse said.

Thomas then turned down the large hallway and walked out of the Sister's Care of the Mentally Ill.

Later that night, after quieting Amber with sleeping pills, the night nurse moved quietly to Amber's bedroom window and opened it as silently as she could. Amber stirred slightly in her sleep as the nurse crossed the room again and shut the door silently behind her, but her eyes remained closed. The curtains stirred slightly in the breeze before settling back as Amber's even breathing raised her sheets up and down in a rhythmic pattern. Suddenly, Amber's eyes flew open as the wind picked up and blew the curtains high into the air.

"You look awful," a voice said as the curtains settled back into place.

Amber looked toward the window and saw the barely visible outline behind the curtains. "Ali!"

As the wind blew the curtains up, Ali was revealed. She looked exactly the same as when Amber had said good-bye to her what seemed like so many years ago. However, she was alone; Timothy was nowhere to be seen. Ali moved away from the window as the curtains settled down again and made her way over to Amber's bed.

"Ali!" Amber said again, happily.

"You've changed in these past years," Ali said, "You're desire for me to be real has driven you to insanity."

"I didn't forget about you!" Amber said. She craned her neck to look behind Ali. "Where's Timothy?"

"Timothy doesn't exist anymore," Ali said, "She has become Tilda."

"Tilda?" Amber asked.

"Timothy, from the moment I met him, as been resisting the process of turning into a Queen, but, at long last, as finally lost the battle."

"A Queen? Timothy is a Queen?"

"Yes, she now lays eggs and I find her hosts. She has children of her own now."

Amber's hand shot out and grabbed the front of Ali's shirt, pulling the girl close. "Children, children… Ali! You have to help Sophie."

Ali's eyes narrowed. "Your daughter," she said.

"You have to help her; she's strayed too far and I am afraid of what will happen to her," Amber said.

"She's entered her first year of college at the local University," Ali said, "I'm, frankly, surprised; she lasted longer than you did. But that doesn't mean she's doing much better now."

"Please, she needs help," Amber said, "Don't let her lead the same life I did."

"I've been watching her for some time now, since she started making bad decisions, but I'll pay more attention for you."

Amber nodded slowly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Amber released Ali and she pulled away slightly. "And I am sorry about this next part," she said.

She placed her hand on Amber's forehead and closed her eyes. A tingling sensation gently brushed against her consciousness as Tilda's presence filled her mind. Tilda's conscious trailed down Ali's arm and through her fingertips, entering Amber's mind. Amber's eyes widened and rolled into her head as she slumped against her pillows. Ali waited a second longer before pulling away.

"I appreciate you remembering me," Ali said, "But it causes me too much pain to see you in a state like this. I'd rather have you forget about me and be healthy, then remember me and be ill."

_Come, my dear,_ Tilda said gently, _There is nothing more for you to do._

Ali sighed and moved to the window. She glanced back one more time at Amber, sleeping peacefully, before climbing out of the window and swinging down to the ground.


	2. The Party

Sophie, her face inches from her vanity mirror, put the final touches of the bright blue eye shadow on her eyes. She paused a moment to study her appearance in the mirror.

"Will you hurry up, Sophie?" Margret said.

She was wearing a tight fitting black halter top and a short jean mini-skirt. Her eyes were highlighted with purple eye shadow and blackened darkly with eyeliner and mascara.

Sophie pulled away from the mirror and reached for the tube of lipstick. "Just give me one more second," She said as she applied the deep red lipstick.

"You look hot without the make-up, alright? Let's just get going!"

"You're so impatient, Margret."

Sophie adjusted the top of her backless, tight fitting red dress and tucked her loose blonde hair behind her ear.

"I'm ready," Sophie said.

"Finally!" Margret said.

She grabbed her car keys and walked to the dorm door.

"Why are we driving? It's half a block away?" Sophie asked.

Margret rolled her eyes. "I plan on picking up a guy or two and I'm _not _bringing them back here."

Sophie laughed and followed her friend out of the dorm. They made their way from their spot on the second floor down to the ground level where Margret's bright red Firebird was waiting.

"This is going to be a good night, I can feel it," Margret said as she climbed into the driver's side.

"You want to get laid that bad?" Sophie asked, sliding in the passenger side.

Margret ignored her and started the car. With the radio blaring, she roared out of the parking spot and skidded through the parking lot. With the speed Margret was going, they reached the frat house within five minutes and Sophie climbed gratefully out of the car.

"Oh don't give me that look," Margret said as she shut off the car and climbed out.

"You're going to get me killed one day," Sophie replied.

"Either deal with it, or don't ride with me," Margret snapped.

"Fine, I'll walk home," Sophie said.

"Fine," Margret said and she made her way to the frat house, "I need to get me a drink."

Sophie followed her inside and, within no time, was separated in the crowd. She was able to see a couple of her friends from class and chatted with them for an hour or two.

"Sophie!" Margret's shrill voice rang out from across the room.

Sophie turned slightly to see her friend staggering over to her, an empty beer bottle in one hand and another cup of beer in the other.

"This party is _so_ amazing!"

"You're drunk, Margret."

"And you're not! You need to get some beer in you!" Margret tried to shove her cup of beer into Sophie's hands.

"You know I don't drink," Sophie replied, pushing the cup away.

"Alright, you're loss," Margret said, giggling and staggering away.

Sophie sighed and pushed through the crowd, making her way out onto the balcony. There was only two other people there; a couple practically eating each other's face off. Sophie moved to the other end of the balcony where the music thudding inside was dimmed and she could be alone. She stared up at the stars in the sky, although it was hard to see them in the bright light coming from the room behind her.

"What are you doing out here alone?" a voice said, close to Sophie's ear, startling her.

Sophie spun around to see a tall, slightly handsome man standing with his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans. He wore an untucked, blue Oxford shirt with the first two top buttons undone. He was grinning and his dark hair hung in his bright green eyes.

"Just getting some fresh air," Sophie replied.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," the man said as he moved closer to Sophie, leaning against the railing, "My name's Trevor."

"Abigail," Sophie responded immediately. It was her middle name, but she usually only gave it out to people she didn't know.

"Abigail, what a pretty name," Trevor said, "But it doesn't seem to suit you. You look more like a Jill, or a Tracy."

Sophie shrugged. "That's the name I was given; I'm not going to change it."

"Would you, though? If you could?"

"Don't know."

"You go to college here?" Trevor asked.

"Yeah."

"What grade are you in?"

"Freshman."

Trevor chuckled. "Fresh meat."

Sophie nodded. "I've been getting that a lot."

"You'll get used to it," Trevor said, "I'm a Junior so it's been a while for me."

"Wow, a Junior," Sophie said.

"Yeah, say, did you walk here?"

"No, I drove."

"You got a car?"

"Yeah," Sophie replied, suddenly feeling nervous; this guy was giving her the creeps, "Listen, I need to go."

"Alright, later," Trevor said.

Sophie moved past him quickly and hurried back into the heart of the party. She looked around for Margret and saw her with her arm around a guy, walking toward the door. She was giggling and there was a full bottle of beer in her hands. Sophie sighed; she rarely wanted to ride with Margret when she was sober, being drunk would be even worse.

"Margret!" she called out anyway.

Margret turned around, her eyes glassy. "Sophie! I'm checking out, see you later!"

"No, wait, could you give me a ride back to the dorm?"

Margret's eyes narrowed. "Why should I? I'm not going back and I thought we established you were going to walk home."

"I know, but I changed my mind. Please, just drop me off at the door," Sophie pleaded.

"It wouldn't be too much trouble," the guy in Margret's arms.

"Alright, fine, come on," Margret said.

Sophie sighed with relief and followed Margret and the guy out to her car. She looked over her shoulder as she did, but there was no sign that Trevor had followed her. Still, she was glad that she was playing it safe, instead of something much worse happening to her.


	3. Trouble

Margret came to a skidding stop at the front of their building. Sophie climbed out of the car and hurried to the door, hearing the car roaring away. She entered the quiet lobby and hurried over to the elevator. Her floor was empty when the doors slid open, but she could hear music issuing softly from one of the rooms. She moved down the hall toward her room, pulling out her room key as she did. As she slipped the key into the hole and turned it.

"Hey," a voice said a short distance away.

Sophie jumped and turned, looking down the hall in the direction she had just come. To her surprise, she saw Trevor standing only a short distance away.

"Trevor!" Sophie exclaimed in fright.

Trevor started walking toward Sophie, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he said, but he wasn't smiling.

"How'd you know where I lived?" she asked.

"I followed you since you left the party. You know, I found it odd that you would need a ride from a friend if you already had a car."

"I didn't drive to the party."

"Or maybe you lied to me?" Trevor asked.

"No, I—"

"How about letting me in," Trevor said, turning the door knob and pushing the door open.

Sophie tried to back away, but Trevor grabbed her wrist tightly and held her close.

"Let me go!" Sophie cried.

"No, I just want to know how much you lied to me."

"I already told you—!"

"'Property of Sophie; Hands Off!' That's funny, I thought your name was Abigail?" Trevor asked, setting the journal back down on the table.

"My middle name is Abigail," Sophie said.

"Stop lying to me!" Trevor shouted.

His hand came hard across Sophie's face. She fell back with a cry of pain and her back hit the wall.

"I don't like liars," Trevor said, grabbing Sophie's wrists and pinning her to the wall.

"Get off of me!" She threw her whole weight against Trevor, but he only tightened her grip.

Trevor smiled. "You'll only make it harder on yourself; you're roommate's not going to be home for a while, is she? We're going to have all the time in the world."

Sophie shoved hard on Trevor's chest. "Get off of me, you creep!"

Trevor laughed. "I like it when they struggle!"

Sophie kicked and fought against Trevor as his mouth came down hard over hers. She tried to move her head to the side to break the kiss, but he was pressing her head firmly up against the wall and she couldn't move. Suddenly, Trevor's eyes flew open and he pulled away, his eyes going wide. Blood was bubbling out of the corner of his mouth and he started gasping quickly. He stumbled back and fell onto the couch and then onto the floor, falling face first into the ground and leaving a trail of blood on the couch. Sophie cried out as she caught sight of the long gashes that ran deeply down his back.

"You're eyes are the same as your mother's."

Sophie's head shot up at the sound of the voice and searched for the intruder. What she saw caused her to scream and stumble back into the wall, pressing her back firmly up against it. There was a young girl standing in the middle of the room, wearing all black clothing and staring intently at the glistening blood on her hand, but it wasn't the girl that had startled Sophie, it was the large, four legged creature behind the girl. The creature was brown and lacked any eyes or nose, but had a mouth full of silver teeth.

"Who are you? And how do you know about my mother?" Sophie asked, surprising herself at the strength in her voice.

The girl closed her eyes. "I'm the one whom you said wasn't real."

Sophie gasped in shock, but she was seeing it now; the long black hair, the dark blue eyes, the dark clothing and the strange creature behind the girl. "You're Ali," she said.

"The one and only," Ali said.

"No!" Sophie said, "You can't be real! Those were just stories!"

"You'd be surprised what are and aren't _just_ stories."

"But—but" Sophie stammered.

"Now is not the time for you to start babbling at me. You have to come with me now."

"I'm not coming with you!" Sophie said, "I barely know you, even if my mother told me stories about you!"

Ali sighed. "You're just like your mother; she didn't want to come with me or trust me at first either. But, like her, I'm not giving you a choice. Ares?"

The creature hissed and moved around Ali, approaching Sophie. Sophie sank to the ground as the alien got within inches of her face. It hissed and long tendrils of saliva dripped off its teeth.

"Don't worry; he's not going to hurt you too badly," Ali said, "Only if you struggle."

Sophie opened her mouth to say something, but the alien's long tail suddenly shot out. The large barb at the end of its tail stopped within inches of Sophie's face, but she threw her head back to avoid the hit and her head slammed into the wall. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped forward, unconscious.


	4. The Shadow Girl's Return

Sophie's head was throbbing when she regained consciousness. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Her vision was blurred, but she was able to make out a few characteristics of her surroundings that were familiar; after all, they were part of her mother's stories as well. This was the realm of Ali, the place her mother called the Hive. It was exactly the same as her mother had described them; black covering the floors, walls, and ceilings with a strange ribbed appearance.

"Rise and shine," a dark shape said over Sophie.

Sophie rubbed her eyes and looked up. Ali was standing over her with the alien standing behind her.

"This is the Hive, isn't it?" Sophie asked.

Ali nodded. "It's almost exactly the same as Amber described it, isn't it?"

Sophie looked around and noticed that the chamber she was in was larger than the one her mother described, also, there was a giant alien with a large crest of some kind on its head. The alien was attached to a huge egg sac and surrounded by what Sophie could only assume were eggs.

"What is that?" Sophie asked.

"Her name is Tilda," Ali replied, "But your mother knew her as Timothy."

"Timothy? But he was a boy."

"Yes, but he turned into a Queen sometime after I let Amber go," Ali replied.

"Why do you name them?"

"Your family members have names, don't they?" Ali asked, "My family is no different."

"So my mom was right about that, you do consider them your only family?"

"That's correct, but they also see me as a member of their family; they care and protect me as one of their own."

"So, what's that one's name?" Sophie asked, pointing to the one behind Ali.

"This is Ares," Ali said, "I found a book in the orphanage library on Greek mythology. I've been naming them after the Greeks that I read about."

"How do you tell them apart?" Sophie asked; they all looked the same to her.

"Subtle behavior differences or looks. Ares here, for example, is quad-pedal, while Apollo over there is bi-pedal."

Suddenly, a loud cry pierced the air. Sophie jumped and looked around. Movement a short distance off caught her attention and she rose to her feet.

"I wouldn't go over there if I were you," Ali replied, "This was one detail your mother never mentioned to you."

"Why not?" Sophie asked, moving closer.

"Well, for one, she has never seen the process before; I've only told her about it. But she didn't want to give you nightmares at such a young age."

"What's happening?"

Sophie could now see that the struggling figure was a man and that he had been attached to the wall somehow. On closer inspection, Sophie was also able to recognize the man.

"Trevor? But I thought you killed him."

"No, there would have been a lot more blood if I would have killed him. I just wanted to stop him from making a move and I got a little carried away."

Trevor's eyes had been closed, but flew open as he let out a horrible scream. He was gasping and panting and he was arching his back. He yelled again and a bulge on his stomach appeared. Sophie gasped and took a step back, but couldn't pull her gaze away.

"Seeing as you're going to ignore my earlier warning, I wouldn't suggest standing that close," Ali said.

The bulge was pushing up on the inside of Trevor's chest, causing him to scream in more agony. All of a sudden, the bulge exploded, spraying blood directly on to Sophie. Sophie froze up as she felt the drops running down her face.

"I warned you," Ali said.

There was a small screeching thing inside Trevor's chest now. It looked like an mutated rat of some kind; pink, eyeless, and covered in Trevor's blood.

Ali moved past Sophie and held out her hands. The baby crawled out of Trevor's chest and into Ali's arms, its screeches reduced to calm hisses.

"_You_'ll be called Themis," Ali said.

There was a loud hiss and Sophie looked to her left and was shocked when she saw an alien face inches next to her own. She cried out and fell back. The alien hissed and looked down at her.

"Aw, Cerberus likes you!" Ali said. Cerberus hissed and crouched down close to Sophie.

"What does he want?" Sophie asked as Cerberus hissed.

"He wants you to pet him."

Sophie hesitated, but Cerberus hissed again so she raised her hand slowly and touched the top of Cerberus's head. The alien hissed and rubbed his head up and down against Sophie's hand.

"They don't seem very fierce or dangerous," Sophie pointed out.

"Don't be fooled, though, they can be dangerous," Ali responded, "They're only like this when I'm around."

"Why did you take me? And how come you know so much about me and what my mother told me?"

"Your mother asked me to look after you. But it seems you've forgotten about the stories," Ali said, "Let me remind you. I wander the streets at night, looking for people in need of my help. Your grandmother, Cathie, was one of these people; you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me. I make it my personal goal to monitor the people that I rescue, to make sure they don't get into any more trouble."

"But my mom also said you didn't kill people, so why did you kill Trevor?"

"One, he had it coming, and two, my existence has already been made known and I'm being hunted."

"Hunted?"

"Yes, there are a group of men, scientists, they call themselves, who wish to capture and study me."

"Really?"

"They're good too; they hired their own private team of investigators to track me down. I've met their leader face-to-face once, but it was only with the intervention of Apollo that I was able to escape."

"What about my brother?"

"What about him?" Ali asked, her voice changing slightly.

"Why isn't he here?" Sophie asked as she looked around.

Ali paused before speaking. "He didn't need my help like you did, but I still watch and keep an eye on him."

"Does he know I'm here?"

"No, but your mother did."

"What does that mean?"

"I had to do it," Ali said, "I'm sorry, but I had to do it."

"What did you do to my mother?!" Sophie demanded.

"I erased her memory of me."

"Why would you do that? She said that you wanted to be remembered!"

"And I did," Ali said, "But it wasn't helping her at all with you and your brother always telling her I didn't exist. But I don't fully blame you for her condition, it was partially my fault because I never revealed myself to her again and she was starting to have doubts that I really existed."

"But you were watching her, weren't you?"

"Yes, I wanted a long time, trying to work up to courage to spare her the agony she was going through, but I never did. I let her suffer for so many years before Tilda finally convinced me to erase her memory."

"So is she okay now?"

"She should be, I haven't had a chance to check on her, but I can go if you are that worried."

Sophie hung her head. "I should have been there for her. I shouldn't have left it all to Thomas. I ran off to college, planning to never look back."

"She still loves you, though, she wanted me to make sure you're safe," Ali said.

"Can I see her?"

Ali shook her head. "You're going to stay here when I go check up on her."

"Why? Why can't I go?!"

"I trusted your mother, but I don't trust you."

"What am I going to do? Run away from you?"

"Amber tried it."

"Where would I go? Back to my dorm?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you leave."

Sophie sighed, she could see that arguing with Ali was pointless. She understood, also, what might be causing Ali to be more hesitant in trust her; she was being hunted after all.

"Fine," she said finally, "I'll wait here."

Ali nodded. "Thank you."

At that moment there was a loud hiss and Sophie looked behind her. It was the first time that Tilda had made a sound since Sophie had awakened. Ali looked over at Tilda and tilted her head to the side.

"What is it?" Sophie asked.

"She told me that it would be best if you were closer to her while I'm gone, just in case one of the aliens gets antsy and tries to attack you."

Sophie shuddered and nodded. "Okay."

"Don't worry," Ali said as an alien stepped forward to stand beside her, "I won't be gone long."

She spun on her heel and disappeared through a slightly hidden entrance, the alien hissing behind her, leaving Sophie alone. Sophie hugged her arms to her chest, a sudden chill overcoming her at the thought of being alone, surrounded by aliens. She moved over to Tilda, like she had been instructed, and curled up close underneath the Queen. She rested her head on her hands, too afraid to close her eyes. But, even as she struggled to stay awake, she started to drift off; feeling like something was tugging at her consciousness. The last thing she heard was Tilda hissing softly in an almost lullaby-like rhythm.


	5. Ambushed

Sophie was curled up underneath Tilda, in a state of half-awake, half-asleep when, all of a sudden, a loud commotion startled her awake. She opened her eyes and saw an alien arriving, supporting Ali. She jumped up immediately and ran over to Ali.

"Ali?" Sophie asked.

Dried blood was caked to her head and there was fresh blood coming from her ears. Sophie reached for Ali, but the alien hissed and backed away.

"Look, I want to help her!"

The alien hissed and backed up more. The rest of the aliens from the Hive gathered around the alien and blocked Sophie from Ali.

"I'm not going to hurt her!"

Ali stirred at that moment and her eyes fluttered open. She took a second to study her surroundings before crying out and falling away from the alien. At that moment the aliens stepped away and let Sophie move closer.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Sophie asked as she crouched down next to Ali.

"They were everywhere," Ali said in a strained voice.

"Who was?"

"_Them_, the company that wants me, they were waiting in Amber's room to ambush me; someone must have told them that I would be there."

"I was here the whole time, there was no way—!"

"I wasn't blaming you," Ali said, "But someone had to know that I would show up."

"What did they do to you?" Sophie asked, looking at the blood in Ali's ears and reaching out toward it.

Ali slapped Sophie's hand away. "Don't touch it; it'll burn you, remember?"

Sophie had completely forgotten about that detail. At least it explained the alien's reaction; they weren't keeping Ali away because they thought she'd hurt Ali, they were keeping her away because they didn't want Ali's blood hurting her.

"What did they do to you?" Sophie asked again.

"They must have made it recently. It looked like a small handheld device of some kind, but it admitted a high pitched noise. Only I could hear it, though."

"Like a dog whistle."

"Yeah, but it hurt so badly. Then something hit me in the head and I blacked out."

"How many where there?"

"At least a dozen or so."

"Do they know about this place?"

Ali shook her head. "I don't think so, at least, they've never launched an attack on it yet."

"But they might know about it now, if they somehow where able to follow you," Sophie replied.

Ali's eyes widened. "No! They can't find me here!" she turned to the alien that had brought her into the Hive. "Hermes? Were we followed?"

Hermes let out a shudder, not responding for a while. A second later, Tilda hissed in fury and Ali bowed her head.

"What does that mean?"

"We were followed."

"How soon can they get here?"

"I don't know. Aliens can run fast, but cars can go fast too; they might be here by morning."

Ali started to stand, but cried out in pain and fell back down.

"Don't try to move just yet, those wounds look pretty severe," Sophie said.

Ali chuckled. "Don't worry about me. My wounds heal quicker than normal humans; I should be fine in a couple of hours or so."

"Oh yeah, I do remember Mom telling me something about that."

Before Ali could respond, Tilda started screeching and hissing. Ali's eyes grew bigger in terror and she struggled to her feet.

"What is it?"

"They're here!"

"Already? How is that even possible? They must have had the roads cleared for them!"

"Now's not the time to try and figure out how they got here! Now's the time to get on Hermes's back and come with me!"

"What about the rest of the Hive?"

"They don't know there's this many aliens," Ali said, "They think it's just me and the one. If they see us running away with only one then they'll follow us and leave the Hive alone."

Tilda started hissing in protest.

"I know it's not a good idea! But I don't have any other options and I'd rather have myself captured instead of this whole Hive destroyed!"

Tilda hissed again, but it was more gentle and filled with caring.

Ali nodded. "I will," she then turned to Sophie, "Get on!"

Hermes hurried up alongside Sophie. She wasn't exactly comfortable with getting on the alien's back, but she didn't want to be forced on, like last time, so she scrambled up the alien's bony back. As soon as she was seated, Ali took off down a side tunnel. Hermes followed after, barely giving any warning to the sudden start and nearly knocking Sophie off.

The tunnels twisted and turned this way like a giant rabbit's burrow. There were no exits and no other tunnels. The ground was bumpy and uneven, but Ali and Hermes were able to move with speed and grace as they plummeted on.

"Wait!" Ali said suddenly, coming to a direct stop.

Hermes stopped as well, inches away from Ali, and almost unseated Sophie again.

"What is it? Why'd we stop?"

Ali pointed in front of her and Sophie followed her gesture. She was able to see thin streams of light coming from around the corner and knew the Hive's exit wasn't that far off.

"So why are we stopping?" Sophie asked.

"I want to move more cautiously once we get outside in case there's an ambush waiting," Ali replied.

"It's also daylight," Sophie pointed out.

"Yeah, another bad factor; my element is the night where there are shadows."

Ali moved forward then, with Hermes following behind slowly. The light grew brighter as they rounded the corner and faced the open.

"How do you hide this from people?" Sophie asked, the opening was so large.

Ali pointed to a few road blockers and a sign that said, "Closed Subway."

"And that keeps people out?"

"Most of the time, the ones who do wander in end up as hosts," Ali said.

"Look over there!" Sophie pointed.

Ali followed the direction of her finger and saw the massive army trucks. Each truck had at least a dozen people and each one was carrying a large gun. Ali cursed under her breath and looked around.

"Hermes?" she asked and pointed, "You see that building?"

Hermes hissed.

"That's too far away," Sophie protested.

"It's close enough; all we have to do is get within the shadows so we can lose them."

"Alright," Sophie replied.

"Hang on, this is going to be quick."

Sophie tightened her grip just in time as Hermes launched out into the open and darted toward the shadows. Ali followed behind swiftly just as loud explosions split the air. Sophie looked over her shoulder to see that the army trucks had started to turn toward them and the people in the trucks were pointing their guns toward them. Suddenly, Hermes leaped into the air, almost unseating Sophie again, and was enveloped in darkness.

"Are you okay?" Ali asked.

"I think so," Sophie said, sliding off Hermes's back.

"Good," Ali replied. She looked over her shoulder, still uneasy, "We need to keep moving. We don't know how long it will take to—"

Ali was interrupted by a sudden, bright flash of light and a loud explosion that shook the ground. Ali's eyes were wide in terror as she ran to the edge of the shadows with Sophie following behind. There was a large black cloud of smoke rising slowly into the air around the area where Sophie and Ali had just left.

"No," Ali said in a soft voice, "Tilda?"

"Ali? Are you okay?"

Tears started to brim in the corner of Ali's eyes as she stared at the black cloud. "I can't hear her. I can't hear Tilda!"

"Ali, come on, we have to keep moving, they're coming after us."

"They," Ali said softly, "_They_ killed Tilda. _They killed_ all of them. _They will pay!_"

Sophie took a step back in shock. The look in Ali's eye was completely different from the one that she had seen before. Ali's eyes had darkened with fury and hatred.

"Ali!"

Ali turned to look at her and the strange look receded, leaving only sadness and weariness.

"We need to keep moving," Sophie coaxed, "Let's go."

Ali nodded and turned away. Hermes hissed and stepped forward to rub his head against Ali's. Ali smiled and stroked his head.

"At least I still have you," she whispered. She then turned to Sophie. "You're right, we need to get moving."

Sophie nodded. "Lead the way."

Ali nodded. "Follow me."


	6. Taken

The alleyways twisted right and then left, over and over again. Sophie had never realized just how many alleyways there actually were and she was glad that she never got lost in them before; she would never have been able to find her way out if Ali wasn't leading her. Suddenly, Ali stopped. They had reached a dead end. There was a small corner of the area that had a blanket strung up around it to make a make-shift tent.

"Where are we?" Sophie asked.

"This was my home, when it was only me," Ali replied, "I haven't been here in over 50 years, I'm surprised it's still here."

Ali moved forward, then, toward the tent and crouched down to crawl underneath it. Sophie followed with Hermes crouching down, guardian-like, outside the entrance to the tent.

"I still find it hard to believe that you're so old; you don't look a day over sixteen."

"Believe it. But you shouldn't think that you're the only one who thinks this is odd. I'm so used to not aging and looking so young that I forgot normal people age normally. Let me tell you, it was a shock when I visited Amber right after you were born."

"Why is it that you never showed yourself to my mother again? Why would you do that to her, especially if you saw that it was driving her to insanity?"

Ali's eyes glazed over and she hung her head. "Don't think I don't regret it; I think about it every day. I told your mother that she had my trust now, which is why I let her go, but I couldn't bring myself to ever show myself again. I guess it's just old habits and all, but I make a point never to interact with people after I save them."

"But you couldn't even let her catch a glimpse? Just to show that you still exist?"

"No."

"How can you live like that? No human interaction except when you're saving someone from certain death?!"

"I really don't consider myself a human. And your kind has already told me how you think of me; they called me names and now they're hunting me."

"Well still—!"

Ali clamped a hand over Sophie's mouth, cutting her off. Sophie shuddered at the unnatural coldness of Ali's hand and had to remind herself of the reason.

"Be quiet." Ali removed her hand and crawled toward the opening.

"What is it?" Sophie whispered.

"They found us."

"But how? How on Earth could they navigate through the alleyways and find us; I was completely lost!"

Ali squinted and reached a hand up to her neck. She plucked a small black chip off her shirt and held it out. "Tracking device."

"When was that planted?"

"It must have been when Hermes and I were first attacked."

Suddenly, there was a sound of rapid gunfire and Ali pulled Sophie down. Hermes screeched and instantly appeared inside the tent.

"Hold fire!"

Sophie gasped, the voice sounded so familiar.

Ali's eyes darkened. "Now you know why I don't watch your brother so much."

"Thomas? But—but—?"

"He's been lying to you and your mother from the very beginning. He told you that he didn't think I was real, but he's actually been trying to catch me since he graduated from high school. Joined the Company and told them about me."

"No."

Suddenly, Ali clamped her hands to her ears and groaned, hunching over. Hermes hissed in pain too and shuddered. Sophie was shocked; she wasn't able to hear the sound.

"Ali?"

"Ali, come one out!" Thomas's voice taunted outside.

"Thomas!" Sophie shouted.

A sharp slap came across her face and she looked at Ali in shock.

"If you would have stayed quiet, they wouldn't have known you were here," Ali said, her voice strained.

"Sophie? That you? Well, well, this is interesting."

Sophie felt anger growing in her chest and she moved toward the entrance of the tent.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to try to talk to him."

"Don't! You don't know the person your brother really is! He's corrupted!"

Sophie pulled away from Ali and continued to move. Ali tried to stop her again, but doubled over again as blood started to come out of her ears again.

"Hello little sister," Thomas said once Sophie had stepped outside the tent.

Thomas's eyes held no look of compassion in them. The only emotions Sophie could see where malice and triumph.

"Leave her alone! What do you want from her?"

"I want her power, her abilities!" Thomas replied, "The stories Mom told me fascinated me, but I pretended not to believe in them. When I heard them I thought, 'that would be a great weapon'."

"But she's not a weapon! She wants to protect people, not kill them."

"She doesn't have a choice! This group, their sole purpose is in the finding and containing of these specimen; they specialize in them."

"So that attack you're using to hurt her—?"

"It works against her heightened hearing," Thomas replied.

"What about the alien? You gonna kill it along with the others in the Hive."

Thomas shook his head. "We want at least one of them alive, she's going to need some subordinates."

"How do you expect to contain it? You think it's going to come quietly?"

"We've been working on a tranquilizer that works even on their acid blood. We plan to use it on both of them."

Sophie held her hands out in front of her. "You'll have to go through me first!"

Thomas chuckled. "Oh very well then!"

Sophie never saw the soldier coming, the next thing she knew she was on the ground…the world was going black and fuzzy…she heard Ali scream.


	7. The Prisoner

Sophie opened her eyes slowly. Her first thought was that she was dead because all she could was white. Then, shapes started coming into focus and she realized she was looking at a wall. She bolted up in the bed she was in and looked around. Thomas was sitting in a chair, watching her and obviously waiting.

"Hey little sis," Thomas said in a gentle voice. Sophie noticed the compassion and sadness in his eyes. "I'm so glad she didn't hurt you."

"Who?"

"Ali of course! I'm so glad she didn't hurt you!"

"What are you talking about, you were hurting her!"

Thomas shook his head. "You got this all wrong, sister, _she's_ the evil one, and we're the good guys."

"What was all that stuff before, then? About your goals?"

Thomas sighed. "I had to lie! She wants you on her side, if I tried telling you the truth, she would have killed you."

Now it was Sophie's turn to shake her head. "I don't believe you! You're just trying to brainwash me!"

"Look, I know this is hard, especially after all the nice things that Mom said about her. But, I think you should now this; she's mentally unstable."

"How do you know?"

"We ran a couple of tests and took some blood samples. They all show that she's suffering from metal issues. We were thinking that it has something to do with the alien DNA part of her, which is stronger than the human DNA, that's messing with her head."

"Where is she?" Sophie asked.

"We have her contained in a cell; the alien that was with her has been moved to a more secluded sector."

"Can I see her?"

"I'd rather you not; she's been very violent, you see, since we brought her here and I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be careful; I think she just needs to see a familiar face."

Thomas sighed. "Alright, come with me. Just remember, be careful."

He pressed a buzzer button on a panel of the wall and the door opened and a young man stepped in. He had pale skin and thin, wispy blonde hair. He had a bright smile.

"Sophie, I'd like you to meet Jake, he's my head scientist," Thomas introduced the man.

"But, you look so young," Sophie said, shocked.

Jake chuckled. "Yeah, just turned 19 in February. Science is in my blood; my parents were both scientists and they raised me to be one."

"He's been in charge of studying Ali and monitoring her activity," Thomas added.

"Come on, I'll take you to her," Jake said, gesturing.

Sophie got up from the bed and followed her brother and Jake out of the room. The hallway outside the room was white as well and Sophie was beginning to wonder if that would be the only color she would see here. They moved down the hallway and went up two flights of stairs before traveling down another long hallway. About halfway through, Thomas and Jake stopped in front of a door guarded by two men holding automatics. They stepped aside when Thomas nodded and allowed them all access. However, Ali wasn't in the room just inside the door, in fact, the room was small with only a panel of strange buttons in front of a large window.

"She's just down there." Thomas gestured to the window.

Sophie hurried to the window and looked down, pressing her hands up to the glass. She was looking down into a brightly lit room with padded walls and a single bed in the corner. Ali was sitting in the corner opposite the bed, her legs curled up tight in front of her and her head resting on top of her knees while her hands covered her ears tightly. She was rocking back and forth, making it hard for Sophie to identify the dark streaks on Ali's hands as blood.

"Ali," Sophie said softly.

As if she heard her, Ali looked up, but her eyes only darkened at the sight of Sophie.

"Can I go down there?"

"I would advise against it, she's still very unstable and I don't want her hurting you."

Sophie huffed. "You didn't have any problem with hurting me last night, I want to see her."

Thomas put an arm around Sophie and led her away from the glass. "Please, leave it alone; there's nothing you can do for her."

Sophie pulled away from her brother. "Why don't you just tell me what's really going on? You know, you were never a good liar."

Thomas sighed, but kept a small smile on. "Very well. I'll tell you the truth. Come with me."

Sophie threw one look over her shoulder at the glass wall, but was able to see Ali at this angle, so she sighed and followed her older brother out of the room.


	8. Gone

"Sit down, please," Thomas said, gesturing to one of the comfy looking chairs.

Sophie lowered herself slowly into the chair as Thomas walked behind the large wooden desk and sat down in the high backed chair. Sophie glanced around the room. It was completely bare of any wall art, even a clock, and the only things on the desk were stacks of papers.

"Is this your office?" Sophie asked.

"Yes," Thomas answered.

"Not bad," Sophie said, "Mom always said you'd be sitting behind a large wooden desk, barking orders."

Thomas smiled. For a moment, Sophie had forgotten why she was even here, but then Ali's flashed through her head.

"So tell me what's going on," Sophie asked.

Thomas sighed and leaned forward in his desk. "Listen, I have to admit, when I first heard the stories, I thought they were just fluff, but then I started thinking. I realized that if someone like this really did exist, just think of the advantages in a fight they would have. It took me a long time to even catch a sight of her; I had to prove to myself that she was real. I watched her save two girls who were being attacked, she didn't kill the man, but she flung him further than I ever thought possible, with just one strike."

"I know where you're going with this, but you're making a mistake," Sophie said, "She doesn't want to kill people!"

"Oh really? Then what does she do with all the bad people in the world that harm the people she tries to protect?"

"She stopped killing them!"

"But she still does, sometimes. Do you know how she gets more aliens? I learned that little tidbit of information when I joined the Company. The person dies when—"

"I know already," Sophie said, "I watched it happen to someone."

"And yet you still side with her?" Thomas asked.

"The man she killed was going to _rape_ me! I'm sorry, but he got what he deserved!" Sophie said.

"Look, the point is, power like that would make a great weapon. Just think, an entire army of humans infused with alien DNA, fighting wars for us."

"Ali would never do something like that for you," Sophie said.

"She can't resist forever, sooner or later she'll lose the will to fight us and will subject to our testing."

"Wait, what do you mean by testing?"

"Some of the testing is to see how well she does in combat with actual weapons and not just her fists, the other tests are DNA tests to see if we can use it for cloning."

Sophie's mouth dropped open in shock. Her brother wanted to clone Ali? Surely she hadn't heard right, but before she could ask him to repeat his sentence, there was a sharp rap on the door. Thomas rose to his feet, his face bearing no surprise, so whoever it was, he had been expected. Thomas opened the door and a middle-aged man with black hair and narrow brown eyes stepped in. He glanced over where Sophie was sitting and his eyes narrowed even more. Sophie took an immediate dislike to him.

"Sophie, I would like you to meet Mr. Lewis Roberts, he's the head of the Security Department," Thomas said.

Sophie narrowed her eyes as she shook the man's cold hand. "It's nice to meet you, sir," Sophie said, faking politeness.

"I have heard much about you, Sophie," Mr. Roberts said, his voice semi-pleasant.

"What kind of things, I wonder?" Sophie remarked.

"Oh, just about your relationship to the girl," Mr. Roberts said.

"What about her?"

"I was wondering if you could help us," Mr. Roberts said.

Sophie quickly shook her head. "I won't help you hurt Ali."

"Well that wasn't exactly what I had in mind; you won't be taking part in anything that _I_ will be doing with Ali—"

"What are you doing?"

"We'll be taking her off of Thomas's hands and will be teaching her back at my headquarters how to fire a gun and use other weapons. What Thomas needs before I take her, however, is DNA samples so that they can use them in their cloning project."

"I won't do that to Ali!" Sophie shouted.

"Don't you want to see her?"

Sophie faltered; she did want to get the chance to talk to Ali, to tell her that she was going to find a way to help her, but not in this way. She didn't want to take part in anything her brother was doing. However, her desire to see Ali was so overwhelming that she nodded her head.

Mr. Roberts smiled, as if he had won a battle. "Alright."

Sophie followed Mr. Roberts and her brother out of the office and back in the direction of Ali's imprisonment. Except, this time, they went down to the lower level, where the door to Ali's cell was. She took a deep breath as Thomas typed in the password that would unlock. The door opened swiftly with a hiss and the three soldiers standing guard to the cell moved in first, followed by Thomas, then Sophie, and lastly, Mr. Roberts.

Ali was still in the corner, her hands on her ears, but she looked up the second the door to her cell opened, keeping her hands to her ears and remaining on the ground. She stared at the group in front of her, her eyes dark and unreadable.

"Get up!" one of the guards demanded.

Ali flinched slightly and Sophie could only guess it was because of the noise maker. However, Ali slowly rose to her feet, her hands falling to her side.

"What do you want?" she said in a raspy, angry voice. Her question wasn't directed to Thomas or to Mr. Roberts. Her gaze was glued to Sophie.

However, Mr. Roberts answered her. "My name is Lewis Roberts; I am the head of the Security Department. I'm in charge of the weapons division."

Ali turned her gaze slowly to Mr. Roberts. The gaze she was giving him would have sent Sophie to the floor in terror, but he returned the gaze full on.

"I'm not going to become your new weapon," Ali said.

Sophie shuddered at the darkness in Ali's voice, but Mr. Roberts barely batted an eyelash.

"You really don't have much choice in the matter. You see; Dr. Thomas, here, has already sold you over to me."

Ali's gaze flew to Thomas and he flinched under her gaze. She took a step forward and looked at the guards. They tightened their grip on their weapons and Ali brought her foot back, a small grin playing on her face.

"You scare them easily, yes," Mr. Roberts replied, reading the expression on Ali's face, "But you hardly scare me; you are nothing but a child."

"That could kill you with a flick of the wrist," Ali replied.

Sophie gasped in shock. The tone in Ali's voice was changing drastically the more she spoke.

"I doubt the device would allow you to get that far," Mr. Roberts said.

"Device?" Ali asked.

Mr. Roberts pulled out a thin, choker-like necklace and held it out in front of him. There was a small black box on the very front that blinked a red and yellow light. "This device will both render a high-pitched audio sound that only you will be able to hear, as well as an electrical shock that would shut down the nervous system of a normal human being."

Ali glared at Mr. Roberts as the two guards put their weapons aside and stepped forward to grip Ali's arms tightly. They were visibly shaking; both seemed to know that Ali could throw them off her and kill them without a second's notice. But Ali held still as Mr. Roberts stepped forward. The second his hand was in reach, she lashed out, but Mr. Roberts was able to pull his hand back, just before her teeth latched down on it. Again, his eyes registered no fear, instead a small smile crept up his lips. His hand reached back and arched down, coming down hard across Ali's face.

Her head whipped to the side from the force of the blow and her knees gave out beneath her, but with the soldiers still holding on to her, she didn't fall. She looked back up, her eyes registering surprise. A long streak, already oozing blood, slashed from the top of her cheek bone down toward her chin. Mr. Roberts used her momentary shock to lock the chocker around her throat. As he stepped back, Ali glared at him, regaining her senses, and shook off the hold of the soldiers. They stepped back quickly and picked up their weapons again.

"Dr. Thomas," Mr. Roberts said as he walked past Thomas, "Take your samples quickly; I want to get her transported as soon as possible."

Thomas nodded in reply and gestured for two scientists to step into the room. They carried two petri dishes each and cotton swabs. Ali glared at them, her hands clenched in fists. When the scientists approached, Ali swung her fist out, aiming for the nearest one's chest. Just before she hit him, she fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

Sophie spun around to see Mr. Roberts standing in the door way with a small black clicker in his hand and his face again holding the expression of winning a battle.

"Just showing Ali what happens when she resists," Mr. Robert's answered before Sophie could reply

"But—"

"I don't want your sympathy!" Ali snapped at Sophie suddenly.

Sophie literally took a step back in shock. The tone in Ali's voice was even darker than when she had been talking to Thomas and Mr. Roberts. And the look in her eyes was even worse; she was looking at Sophie the same exact way she had looked at Trevor back at Sophie's apartment. When the scientists approached her this time, she remained still as they took a cotton swap to her arm. Her gaze stayed glued to Sophie the entire time. Unable to take it any longer; Sophie turned and ran from the room.

* * *

**A/N Wow, sorry this one took so long, I just got finished with my final exams and finally had a free moment to post this.**

**~Ali Wenstern**


	9. A Terrible Discovery

Things were different after Ali was gone, Sophie could tell that she was getting treated differently. Thomas was acting much more like the older brother she remembered and less like the greedy scientist. He had asked her to stay at the facility, saying it was because he could see that she wasn't emotionally ready to return to school, and she really didn't have anywhere else to go. When she had inquired where Thomas had been living, she was shocked to find out that he lived at the facility too, in a bedroom close to his office. He said it was because, with the work they do, he had to be ready on a moment's notice. She was given mostly free range of the place as well, only two sectors were off limits and Sophie had an idea that Hermes was in one of those sectors.

After about three weeks, Sophie had grown tired of not knowing and she marched down the hall to her brother's lab.

"What _are_ those?" Sophie asked in horror as she stepped into the lab.

In the middle of the room were four large cylindrical containers filled with a slightly murky liquid. Inside the containers were four strangely shaped creatures, they couldn't even be called humans or animals, which were hunched over and curled in on themselves.

"These are the clones that we've made of Ali," Thomas said.

"But they don't even resemble Ali or even the aliens," Sophie said.

"Well it's only been a couple of weeks and, to be honest, we haven't really tried to clone anything like this before. Animals and humans are easy to clone, but something with DNA make-up like Ali is extremely hard. Although," Thomas added as he looked into a microscope, "we have made some excellent progress."

"Good for you," Sophie said sarcastically. She then focused on her real purpose for coming. "So where's Ali now?"

Thomas looked up. "She's being kept at the Security Department for our district."

"Where is it located?" Sophie asked.

"Why? You really want to go see her?"

"I want to make sure they're treating her alright."

"That is none of your concern anymore. Where Ali is isn't a place for you."

"And what makes you think it's right for her?"

"It doesn't matter what I think regarding Ali. I literally sold Ali to those people," Thomas said, making Sophie pause; something in Thomas's voice made it sound like he regretted Ali's fate.

"Just tell me where it is, please! I have to know what they're doing to her!"

"They're training her in the use of weapons like guns and grenades," Thomas said, "Mr. Roberts didn't reveal much more after that, but he did say that he would be using human targets in the near future."

"Ali wouldn't do that, though!"

Thomas shrugged. "I'm sure Mr. Roberts has his ways of getting Ali to obey, other than the sound and shock."

"But do you think I could still try?" Sophie asked, "I just _really _want to know how she's doing."

"Fine, I'll give you his number, but don't guarantee that he'll let you see her."

Sophie nodded and waited as Thomas wrote down the number on a small piece of paper. She took the number back to her room and shut the door. The room she had been given was really plain; the only furniture in the room was a bed a small side table. However, the room wasn't that big in the first place, it was about the same size as her apartment bedroom. Sophie moved to her bed and sat down on the edge by the small desk that contained a large, antique, black phone. After dialing the number, she waited as the phone rang.

"Hello?"

Sophie easily recognized Mr. Roberts's voice. "Hi, it's Sophie."

"Sophie? Oh, yes, Sophie," Mr. Roberts said, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm really worried about Ali. I just wanted to know how you were treating her."

"Oh, Ali, yes, she's doing great," Mr. Roberts said, "It's really quite impressive. Tell you what, how about you come down here sometime and I'll let you see?"

"Really?" Sophie asked, completely surprised.

"Sure," Mr. Roberts said, "Like I said before, it's quite impressive and I would like to show off my good work."

Sophie didn't really like the sound of that, but she nodded. "When would be a good time?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, we are still running some routine procedures with her and that could take some time. I also need to be present at all times for that. But, how would you like to come in two months time? We should be through by then."

Sophie sighed; she didn't want to wait two months, but she really wanted to see Ali and knew she had no choice. "Alright, I'll be there."

* * *

"She has made excellent progress," Mr. Roberts was saying as he led Sophie down the hall, "Her sharp reflexes have made for an adamant fighter and she learns quickly."

"Has she killed anyone?"

"Oh yes, quite a few," Mr. Roberts said, "But only under closely guarded circumstances."

They were approaching a large door where rapid gun fire sounded on the other side.

"How?" Sophie had to know.

"It was difficult at first, even if we shocked her, but it grew easier after a while."

The doors opened and the gun fire became deafening. There was a long window that looked out onto a warehouse-like building and it was that window that Mr. Roberts made his way to. Sophie moved more slowly, however, afraid what she would see.

Ali was at one end of the long room, her arms held rigidly in front of her and a gun gripped tightly in her hands. Her hand suddenly became a blur and she was firing a different weapon. Sophie looked toward the targets that were being shredded by the bullets launching from the gun. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the large red stain. The wall behind the targets was splattered red as well.

"Unfortunately, her reaction times to the shock and noise maker have slowed drastically," Mr. Roberts was saying.

"What?" Sophie asked.

"I said, Ali's reaction to getting shocked or hit with the noise as slowed down," Mr. Roberts repeated.

"What does that mean?"

"We think she's building up some kind of immunity to the electrical shocks."

"And the sound?"

"It's hard to tell," Mr. Roberts replied, "But judging on her reaction to when she's spoken to, I'd say there's a good change she's going deaf."

"Deaf?" Sophie exclaimed.

"Yes, we feel like that could to problems down the road."

"May I see her?" Sophie asked.

Mr. Roberts suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I would advise against it."

"Why?"

"Well, you see, she blames you."

"Me?"

"Yes."

Sophie was completely taken aback. "What did you tell her?"

"Nothing much; only that you betrayed her. We twisted the truth around in her mind, you see."

Sophie looked down into the room just in time to see the two men supervising Ali walk away from her and move to a door off to the side. Ali had moved away from the table of guns with her head bowed. The two men reappeared, dragging a young man between them. The man was shaking, but was hardly fighting against the other two. They brought him over to the targets were the blood stains were and set about securing his arms and legs to the wall. Sophie looked over at Ali and saw that she had lifted her gaze to watch the two men. Just as they finished and were stepping back, Ali jumped forward and grabbed one of the guns. Three shots rang out and the man chained up slumped forward in his restraints. The other two men arched their backs at the same time and fell to their knees, blood running down their backs. Sophie looked back at Ali in absolute shock and was taken aback by the grin on Ali's face. What happened next made her blood run cold. Ali lifted her head slowly and she met Sophie's gaze, her eyes dark and narrow and her fingers twitching toward the guns on the table.

"You see," Mr. Roberts was saying, having completely missed what had just happened, "We told her that you informed you brother that she was going to visit your mother and that you had actually planted the tracking device on her before she left. And later, whenever she saw you, you were either with your brother or me, so we told her that you've been plotting against her from the beginning."

"No!" Sophie cried.

"In fact, that's what got her killing people in the first place. Once she lost faith in the one person she trusted, what was left than to turn against humans all together?"

Sophie was at a loss of words and her mouth hung open in slack. She truly couldn't believe what she was hearing; Ali thought she had turned against her! She looked up at Mr. Roberts and found him grinning widely.

"How could you?" Sophie demanded.

"We wanted to disconnect her to the human world entirely and the only way to do that was to make her think that humans were her enemies. Since Thomas told me how she had a big problem with trusting people."

Sophie shook her head in disbelief; she didn't want to believe what Mr. Roberts was telling her. Her mouth opened to speak, but she was interrupted by a loud explosion.


	10. Spared

Sophie reacted slowly, completely caught off-guard, as the world around her became a fiery, black ball of smoke. She was buffeted as a wave of heat and shock washed over her and she choked as smoke filled her nose. Small pieces of debris rained down on her just before a second explosion sent her rocketing backwards. She hit the wall and sank to the floor, letting out a loud gasp. A short distance away from her, she could see Mr. Roberts lying on his side. He was making short gasps and his sides shook with each breath he tried to take in. Almost nervously, Sophie crawled forward, ignoring the dull aching in the back of her head. When she reached Mr. Roberts side she reached out and flipped him over on his back. When his face came into view, Sophie had to hold back a scream and she turned away. Mr. Roberts' eyes were wide and his mouth hung open as he tried to breath. The reason for his struggle was the large glass shard embedded at the base of his throat.

"Mr. Roberts?" Sophie asked, turning back to the man.

"She…she…has been growing and…we knew that…she would…find…a way to…break free," Mr. Roberts sputtered in between breaths, "You must…run, Sophie…she will be coming…for you!"

Mr. Roberts shuddered and he took one last sputtering breath before his head fell back limp, eyes still open wide. Sophie shuddered and looked away; she couldn't bear to look into such empty eyes. Thick, black smoke still rose into the air, clouding much of the area around Sophie, but as she looked up, towards the large gaping hole, she saw a figure climbing up. In a panic, Sophie scrambled to her feet, backing away from the hole. When her back hit the door she didn't think; she ripped it open and took off down the hall.

* * *

Sophie looked left to right, trying to find a place to hide, her terrified breathing sounding too loud. A door nearby caught her attention and she quickly ducked inside. The room was the security room and had a large TV screen that revealed all the floors, rooms, and hallways in the building. Sophie, however, was surprised to find the room empty. She moved to the screens and studied them closely, quickly finding the room that she and Mr. Roberts had been in, however, the smoke was still in the air, restricting the camera's view. She looked around the other screens, but Ali was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Ali came into view on the camera, walking down one of the hallways. Sophie's heart thudded loudly in her chest when she realized Ali was on the same floor as she was. Without another thought, Sophie tore away from the screens and began searching for a hiding spot. The door knob rattled just as Sophie tucked herself in between two large crates.

The door swung open so hard and fast that it banged into the wall and bounced back, however, Ali stepped out of the way just in time as it slammed shut. When Sophie peered out from behind one of the crates Ali had moved to the screens, standing exactly where Sophie had stood moments before. Ali's head moved left then right as she scanned the monitors, obviously looking for Sophie. She had two guns holstered at her hip and several grenades around her waist. Her fingertips dripped red with fresh blood.

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut and tried to push herself back behind the crates. But as she pushed her hand along the floor her hand slipped and her head thudded against the crate next to her. Sophie let out a gasp as her head flared up in pain again. She quickly covered her mouth when she realized she had made a sound and she looked around the crates again. Ali had given no indication that she had heard the noises and it angered Sophie that Ali's once perfect hearing had been ruined.

After a few more minutes, Ali turned and left the room. Sophie remained where she was, afraid to move, in case Ali hadn't left. But after a few more minutes of waiting, she crawled out from around her hiding place and moved over to the door. She opened it slowly and peeked out before venturing out into the hallway. She had seen Ali taking a right once leaving the room so, to stay on the safe side, Sophie went left. She also decided the best thing to do was to get out of the building as quickly as she could.

The hallways were deserted, which unnerved Sophie to no end. Granted, when she was with Mr. Roberts she hadn't seen any people then, but this seemed different. The eerie calm gave her the impression that something horrible had happened to the remaining personnel in the building. Sophie forced those thoughts out of her mind as the sight of the exit came into view. Thinking she was safe, Sophie let out a grateful laugh and picked up her pace, eager to get out of the building.

She heard the shot and dropped to the ground almost instinctively, screaming as she did. She wasn't fast enough and her thigh burned as the bullet ripped through it. A second later, there was a loud explosion and debris fell on her head.

"Found you," a voice said behind her.

Sophie shuddered and clutched her leg, feeling the warm blood ooze between her fingers. She looked over her shoulder to see Ali standing behind her, a dark grin on her face, and a black gun in her hand pointed at Sophie. It then occurred to Sophie that walking directly to the exit, out in the open, was a bad idea and that she had walked into a trap.

"Ali, please," Sophie pleaded.

"Wow, Sophie, that looks painful," Ali said, tilting her head slightly.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Ali asked.

"Why are you doing this? You said you didn't like killing."

"You're right," Ali replied, "I didn't used to like it, I didn't used to like the feel of warm blood sliding between my fingers. I didn't used to like the sight of those empty eyes staring up at a dark sky, the wide open mouth that still screamed its agony, the terror they felt just before they died. But that's all changed now, I can't get enough of it, I enjoy it!"

"Ali, please, you can't do this," Sophie whispered.

"What?" Ali put a hand to her ear.

"You're not a killer, Ali! I can see it in your eyes!"

Ali's eyes darkened and she lowered the gun. "You know, that's one thing I always envied about my family. Without their eyes, no one could tell what they're really thinking. See, that's the thing with you humans; you make up what you want to see in someone's eyes, just like what you're doing right now!"

"That's not true! I can still see the compassion in your eyes!"

"They lie! There is no longer any compassion for you; you _betrayed_ me!"

"No—"

"Enough! I won't stand for this anymore!" Ali said, "I'm going to leave you now, but when you see me next my hearing will be back and I'll have solved that little eye problem. I don't want you dying _thinking_ you know what I'm feeling!"

Ali then placed the gun back in the holder at her hip and walked past Sophie, not making eye contact. Sophie held her breath, afraid that Ali was lying about waiting to kill her, however a shot never came and when Sophie looked over her shoulder, Ali was gone.


	11. The Situation

Sophie groaned and dragged herself along the ground, her leg a dead weight behind her. She made steady progress toward the exit, but it was a long journey. The bullet had gotten lodged into her leg, so it wasn't bleeding that bad, but the pain of moving it was excruciating. She screamed as she pulled her leg forward and dragged herself another half a foot further. She didn't know what she would do when she finally got to the exit; the most likely seemed to hijack a car to get back to her brother. That was her biggest concern; Ali said she wouldn't kill _her_ until her hearing returned, but she never said she wouldn't go after Thomas while she waited.

"Shit," Sophie said to herself as another wave of pain stung her body.

After several long seconds of pulling herself forward, inch by inch, she had reached the door. She looked up at the handle, it seemed so far away, and sucked in her breath preparing for another wave. She reached up and grasped the cold metal in her hand, twisting down. The door swung out and Sophie pushed herself through the opening before the door could close back on her leg. Sophie shivered as the cold air blew her hair away from her face. Luckily, the cold was acting as a numbing agent and as the rest of her body grew colder and colder, Sophie could no longer feel the pain in her leg. She dragged herself to the nearest car and got the door open.

"Alright, you can do this," Sophie encouraged herself, "Just lift yourself up and get in the car."

Her body shivered as she reached for the edge of the seat and gripped the steering wheel. She was able to get her good leg up into the car, but as she tried to drag her injured leg, the wound brushed up against the side of the car. Sophie screamed and used the small spurt of adrenaline to pull her leg inside and shut the door. She let out a sigh and placed her head on the steering wheel. Now came the hard part; hotwiring the car. Luckily, Thomas had felt it a valuable asset to know how to hotwire a car, and had taught her when she was fifteen. She looked on the floor of the seat next to her, but there was nothing on it. She sighed and opened the glove compartment, hoping.

"Thank god," she whispered as she pulled out the screwdriver.

She slipped the screwdriver into the ignition, hoping she could use the easy method. When the car didn't start after she had twisted the screwdriver, she sighed, knowing better to think it would be that easy. She grabbed the ignition cover and pulled it off, bending over to stare at the wirings underneath. Locating the three wires in the back, she grabbed the red power wires and pulled them closer and disconnecting them. She used her bare hands and the screwdriver to strip the plastic covering so that she could twist the ends together. Just then, the dashboard and lights flashed on. Sophie smiled. Now came the hard part; Thomas had told her under no circumstances was she to touch the starter wires with her bare hands but, seeing as she had no gloves, she was just going to have to be careful. She took a deep breath and grabbed the brown starter wires. Holding them gently, she worked slowly, using only the screwdriver to strip the covering. As soon as the wires were exposed, she dropped the screwdriver and held the starter wires in one hand, and the connected power wires in her other hand. The second they touched, there was a spark, and the engine fired up. That part was over, but now she had to decide what to do with the exposed live wires. She looked around for something to cover them with and spied two plastic caps.

"Well, that was convenient," Sophie said.

She used the plastic caps to cover the live wires and tucked them back under the steering wheel. She pressed on the brake, shifted out of park, and drove out of the parking lot.

* * *

Sophie parked the car outside the building. The door was opening just as she turned off the engine and she recognized the figure coming out as one of her brother's assistants, Jake. She opened the car door and tried to step out of the car, however, she didn't make it that far and collapsed. Jake saw her and hurried over.

"Sophie? Are you alright?" He asked immediately when he got closer. He gasped when he saw the bloody bullet wound in Sophie's leg and quickly crouched down to support her. "My God, what happened?"

"Ali attacked me," Sophie replied.

"Ali?"

Sophie couldn't answer as she clutched her leg and cried out in pain.

"Wait here, let me get Thomas."

"No, please, call a hospital," Sophie said.

Jake nodded and pulled out a cell phone. He waited a second. "Yes, I have an emergency; someone has been shot in the leg." He paused again. "She seems to have lost a lot of blood, but she's still conscious." Another pause. "Alright, thank you." He hung up.

"Why didn't you tell them where we were?" Sophie asked.

"They already knew," he replied, "We have to call in a lot for science accidents, they recognize the number."

Sophie nodded and tilted her head back, trying to stay conscious.

"Can I call your brother now?"

"Sure," Sophie said.

She heard Jake calling dialing the phone, could hear the panic in his voice, but could no longer register it. She felt the terror building up in her chest as she neared unconsciousness. Suddenly, arms wrapped around her and she heard a voice screaming over her frantically. She struggled to make sense of the words and figure above her.

"Thomas?"

"Sophie? Can you hear me?"

Sophie looked up at her brother. His face was frantic, terror in his eyes, and tears falling down his cheeks. His hand brushed through her hair and Sophie felt the stickiness. She reached up her own hand and grabbed her brother's wrist, pulling his hand down in front of her face. She forced herself to focus on the bright red liquid shining on his hand.

"Is that my blood?" she whispered.

Thomas nodded. "There's blood all over. Does your leg hurt?"

"Not anymore," Sophie said. The pain was indeed fading away, as were all her other senses.

"Sophie! Stay with me, Sophie!"

Sophie's hand fell from her brother's wrist, but she didn't feel it hit the ground. Her eyes glazed over as darkness crept around the edges of her vision. Bright lights flashed nearby and a wail filled her ears. Her brother's face was pulled away from her and replaced with two stranger's faces. She felt them poking and prodding at her leg and heard their muffled voices, as if they were speaking through water. Darkness dragged her down and the last thing to cross her mind was Ali.


	12. Awake

Sophie opened her eyes, blinking to clear the fog. A white ceiling greeted her, as well as a steady beep and drip.

"Thomas," she said. Her voice was barely above a whisper and it sounded scratchy and sore.

A head came into her vision. "Sophie, you're awake!"

The head disappeared and a steady beep went off, lasting for all of two seconds.

"Where am I?"

"A hospital," Thomas replied, his head coming back into view, "It was a close call, too, the medical personnel had to actually resuscitate you on the scene."

"Is the bullet gone?"

"Yes, they managed to remove it on the way to the hospital," Thomas said, "After your condition had stabilized."

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"About 24 hours, or so."

"Good," Sophie said, sitting up. She felt something tugging at her arm and looked down to see an IV attached to her arm. Several other wires were attached as well on her arms and chest.

"Why would that be a good thing?" Timothy asked

"Ali wouldn't have healed _that_ fast," Sophie replied.

"What are you talking about? And what happened anyway?" Thomas asked.

"Ali, she's changed."

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Roberts had told Ali that I was the reason she was captured," Sophie said, "That lead Ali to hate me and was the key to get her to start killing humans. Just after Mr. Roberts got finished telling me she had lost her hearing because of the sound they were using, she had attacked us, killing Mr. Roberts."

"He's dead?"

"Yeah, and Ali would have killed me too, she was about to after she had shot me in the leg," Sophie said, "But I tried to talk her out of it, telling her that she was still good and that she never wanted to kill humans before. But she didn't listen to me; she said that I was assuming what she was thinking. She told me that she would let me go, because she didn't want me thinking she still had compassion."

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know, she didn't say, but she said that when she came back for me, she'd have her hearing back, but she wouldn't have her eyes."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sophie shook her head. "I don't know."

"Well, how long would you think it'll be before Ali comes after you?"

"I don't know," Sophie said, "But I need to think of something that'll convince her I didn't betray her!"

Just then, a nurse walked into the room. "Did someone page a nurse?"

"Yes, I did," Thomas said, "I wanted to let you know that my sister had awakened."

The nurse nodded. "I'll go get the doctor."

Sophie waited in silence for ten minutes before the doctor entered, wearing a white lab coat.

"Hello, Sophie," he said, "How are you feeling?"

"Better than I did yesterday."

"That's good to hear," the doctor reached for the charts at the end of her bed and studied them. "Well, it looks like you are in good condition, you can check out immediately. Just make sure to leave the bandage on for another 24 hours."

"Thank you," Sophie replied.

The doctor only smiled and stepped out of the room, pressing a button. A nurse came in a second later and began removing the IV and wires attaching Sophie to the machines. She took only five minutes, not saying a word, and then left.

"Get dressed," Thomas said, "I'll meet you downstairs."

Sophie nodded and waited for her brother to shut the door before pulling the covers off and getting out of the bed. A fresh pair of clothing was waiting for her in the chair at the end of the bed. Sophie pulled the clothes on quickly and gently, moving delicately with her pants to avoid bumping her leg too badly. She limped out of her room and toward the elevator, not even wanting to think of taking the stairs. Her brother was waiting just outside the elevator doors when they opened and immediately offered his support.

"I've already got you paid and checked out," Thomas said, "There's a car waiting out front."

Sophie nodded and allowed her brother to lead her out the door. She was curious about his behavior of late and slightly surprised that he was even here when she woke up. In all honesty, she would have thought he'd send one of his assistances out for her while he stayed to work on his clones.

"Sophie? Everything alright?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sophie said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

"Well, come on then, I don't have all day!"

Sophie smiled and followed her brother out; that was the attitude she was used to.


	13. Destruction

"What the hell is going on?" Thomas exclaimed.

Sophie looked from the passenger window to the front, gasping at what she saw; a dark cloud of smoke was rising out of a section of the cloning facility. Two red fire trucks, lights flashing, were parked outside the building and an ambulance was next to it.

"What's going on?" Sophie asked.

"No clue!"

He quickly parked the car and hurried out, Sophie following. There was a small group of people off to the side and Thomas made a beeline toward them.

"What's going on here?" he demanded when he was in earshot.

"We were hoping you could tell us, we're with the crime lab," one of the men said.

Thomas looked toward the black smoke still rising in the sky. "I just got here, I don't know anything."

"We have someone waiting in the ambulance, he said that he had something to tell you," the second man said.

"Thank you," Thomas responded.

He turned on his heel and marched toward the flaring lights, Sophie making sure to keep close. When the ambulance drivers saw Thomas approaching they opened the back of the ambulance and pulled out a gurney.

"Jake!" Sophie gasped when the mangled face came into view.

Jake cracked open one bloody eye and tried to take a deep breath. The oxygen tank next to him made a click sound as it pumped him oxygen.

"Thomas!" he croaked.

"What happened, Jake?" Thomas asked.

"It—it was Ali," Jake managed to say.

"Ali?" Sophie asked in fear, "What was she doing here?"

"She came with intentions to destroy the clones."

"Destroy them?"

"Yes, and she wasn't even affected by the noise," Jake said.

"No, of course not, her hearing hasn't recovered," Sophie said.

"So are all the clones destroyed?"

"No, she first broke the containers they were in and then attacked them. However, two of them managed to escape."

"Which two?"

"Numbers three and four," Jake replied.

Thomas's face went deathly pale. "No, not those two!"

"I'm sorry, sir, there was nothing we could do."

"What's so bad about clones three and four?" Sophie inquired.

"They were the ones at the most developed stage, and the most dangerous. They must be recovered at once!"

"There's something else," Jake said, "She was asking where the alien was."

"Hermes?" Sophie asked.

"What did you tell her?"

"I didn't say anything," Jake said.

Thomas nodded. "Good for you, then. And get well."

Jake nodded. "Thank you."

"Where is Hermes?" Sophie asked.

"The alien is in a cell located deep within the complex, mainly in case something like this happened and Ali broke free," Thomas said.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to check out the damages she caused," Thomas answered.

Sophie sighed in exasperation and followed after her brother. The police officers allowed both of them to slip under the tape and into the building. As they walked, Sophie took in the damages. It had seemed that Ali had blasted her way all the way through to her desired location, destroying everything in her path. They finally made it to the cloning room, what was left of the cloning room.

"My _god_," Thomas said.

The four containers that had held the clones of Ali were smashed open and their murky substance had spilled on the ground. Two copies of Ali were lying in the wreckage, their bodies riddled with bullet holes. However, the substance they had been encased in, and now was spilled around them, must have had some acidic resistance, as their blood didn't burn through the ground. Two other bodies, scientists, were nearby as well, with as much bullet holes as the clones.

"Where are the other two clones?" Thomas asked as two bruised scientists came into the room.

"We're doing our best to track them, but some of our systems are down."

"This is bad," Thomas said.

"What's wrong?" Sophie had to ask.

Thomas sighed and moved over to the remains of his chair and sat down. "The clones weren't fully complete yet. While we did manage to get them to resemble Ali, we were unable to put the control devices into their brains so that they would obey us."

"So they're loose, in the city, as absolute killing machines?" Sophie asked.

Thomas nodded grimly. "If we don't recover them soon, thousands are going to die."

"Where's Hermes?" Sophie asked.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because he might be able to help me save Ali."

"You can't be serious? Sophie, the only reason that alien never attacked you before was because Ali was there. If you go to him now, he would try to kill you!"

Sophie shook her head. "No, that's not true. He cares for Ali; he's all she has left. He'll do anything to help her."

"You can't know that."

"I can feel it. He won't hurt me."

"Look, you're my little sister; I care for you and I—"

"Oh please! If you cared for me like an older brother should, you'd have helped me when I was failing in high school or even college. You could have taken my feelings or desires into consideration when you sold Ali to Roberts. Any way you look at it, you haven't really been the role model of a brother that I've always wanted."

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not, you could care less about what happened to me, as long as your Ali clones are okay, right?"

"That's not true," Thomas said.

The hurt in his eyes almost made it unbearable for Sophie, but she wasn't sure if it was a ruse, or if he really felt that way. She crossed her arms and looked down, not wanting to meet his eye.

"Fine," he said, "I'll take you to him."

Sophie looked up, slightly shocked that Thomas had complied, but she was grateful for it none the less. She followed him out of the destroyed lab and down a long hallway. This was the first time she was allowed this far into the building, before, she was only allowed in the rooms closer to the front of the building. She grew slightly apprehensive of the size of the building as they continued to move further and further into its bowls. Just then, she heard a sound. She couldn't be sure of what it was at the time, it had sounded only like a shoe scuffing the floor, but then she heard it again. She paused and tried to assess the sound.

"Sophie?" Thomas asked when he noticed that she had stopped following him.

She ignored him as the sound came again, this time, sounding like a squealing tire.

"Is that him?" she asked.

"Yes," Thomas said, "That's the alien."

Sophie bolted past her brother and flew down the hall, the cries growing louder as she ran.

"Sophie, wait!"

But Sophie ignored her brother and continued running, following the sound of screeches. She rounded a corner and came face to face with Hermes. The alien screeched and threw himself at the thick glass that caged him, his claws scraping across the surface.

"Be careful, Sophie, I don't think he recognizes you."

Hermes let out a deep hiss and backed away from the glass. He turned away slightly, but Sophie wasn't sure if he was still watching her. She decided to move closer, ignoring the protests from her brother, until she was inches from the glass. The alien regarded her with curiosity before stepping forward as well. When he was inches from the glass, he bared his teeth and a deep hiss rose up in his throat.

"Sophie," Thomas said in warning.

Hermes screeched and his second mouth shot out, smashing into the glass. Sophie jumped back in surprise.

"How do you get in?"

"No," Thomas said, "You're not going in there."

"Let me in!"

"No!"

"Thomas, I—"

"Did you not see what just happened? He tried to attack you!"

"He was just checking me out."

"Stop trying to make them sound good! They're mindless monsters with killer instincts."

Hermes screeched again and slammed his side into the glass, his claws raking across the surface.

"He heard you!" Sophie said.

"The glass is really thick, besides, it can't understand human speech," Thomas said.

"What makes you say that? How can you tell? You never met them in person, have you?"

"Look at it; it'll kill you if you go inside!"

"Let. Me. In." Sophie said.

Thomas crossed his arms over his chest, meeting his sister's gaze, but he dropped his arms a second later, sighing. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"You should have shown some of that concern for me a little earlier," Sophie said.

Thomas studied Sophie for a while longer. "Fine, come with me."

He led her to a side door, Hermes watching their every move.

"I'm going to have to spray him with liquid nitrogen," Thomas said, "That'll insure he won't overwhelm us when we open the door. And if he gives any sign that he's going to hurt you, I will give the order for him to be shot. Do you understand?"

Sophie didn't like the idea of Hermes getting hurt, but she nodded anyway. "Just do it."

Thomas nodded and pressed the red button by the door. There was a mechanical hiss as liquid nitrogen was sprayed into the confinement. Hermes screeched in pain and thrashed around. Thomas waited for the nitrogen to clear before opening the door and stepping back quickly.


	14. The Escape

Sophie stepped into the confinement slowly. Hermes was slowly recovering from the affects of the nitrogen and he looked up when Sophie entered. He growled and rose smoothly to his feet. Sophie didn't know exactly what to do as the alien moved closer, Ali had never given her any indication as to how the creatures reacted to something new. She assumed that moving slowly and not making any sudden movements was a good start, so she waited for the alien to get closer. Hermes let out another growl as long tendrils of saliva dripped down his chin.

"Hermes," Sophie whispered.

Hermes cocked his head to the side when Sophie spoke.

"Listen to me, Hermes, Ali needs our help."

Hemes hissed.

"I know that if she saw you, she'd stop doing what she's doing. Please, you have to help me."

Hermes hissed and pounced forward. Before Sophie even had enough time to react, Hermes was inches from her face. She closed her eyes and turned her head away, her breath rising quickly in her throat. She felt the alien's head brush against hers and could hear his raspy breathing right in her ear. Then, something small brushed against her cheek, causing her to jump and open her eyes a crack to peek out. She nearly fainted when she saw the second mouth, opening and closing slowly, inches from her face, but she held her ground. Finally, Hermes let out a gentle hiss and crouched down next to Sophie. Sophie drew in a ragged breath and let it out slowly; Hermes had recognized her.

"Thank you," she said, it was the only thought she could get out.

Hermes hissed and raised his head. His mouth hung open slightly and another hiss rose out of his throat.

"Sorry," Sophie said, "But I don't know what you're trying to tell me."

Hermes hissed again.

"I'm going to guess that you're telling me you'll help me find Ali?"

Hermes shook his head, hissing again.

"Do you want to know where Ali is?"

Hermes hissed excitedly then and bobbed his head.

"I don't know where she is," Sophie said, "She was here a while ago, looking for you, but she left to go kill some clones, I think."

Hermes hissed and lowered his head.

"But I can help you find her," Sophie said, "And then you can help me help her."

Hermes grew excited again and he jumped up, hissing in delight.

"Great, let's go!"

Sophie walked over to the door, waiting, but nothing happened. She turned around to the glass viewing window and saw her brother standing close to it from the other side.

"Thomas, let me out!"

Thomas shook his head. "I can't let that thing out." His voice said over an intercom speaker in the room.

"But he's okay, he's going to help me find Ali."

"It would be against protocol to let a monster like him out."

Hermes growled and threw himself at the class, screeching.

"Easy, Hermes, calm down," Sophie tried to comfort the alien. She then spoke to Thomas. "Whether you believe it or not, he understands you, and he doesn't like being called monster!"

"Well then what should I call him? Sweet harmless pet?"

"Just stop treating him like something that doesn't have feelings!"

Hermes hissed and moved closer to the window. Thomas took a worried step back, but didn't seem too concerned, thinking the alien couldn't get out.

"Please, Thomas, Ali is out there, and she might be killing people. Do you really want that on your hands?"

Thomas regarded her for a moment before shaking his head. "If you want to get out, that's fine, but the alien stays in there."

"How're you expecting to get me out? As soon as that door opens, Hermes will follow me."

"Then tell him to stay," Thomas replied.

"He's not a dog, you know!"

"Do it!"

Sophie huffed. "Fine!" She turned back to the Hermes, "Wait here, okay?" Hermes let out an annoyed hiss, but Sophie leaned in closer and whispered, "Look, just find a way to get out, alright, I'll be waiting up by the front."

Hermes cocked his head to the side and studied Sophie. After a while he nodded his head in understanding and backed away. Sophie moved over toward the door and heard it click open. She slipped through the small opening allowed her and shoved past her brother, angry with him.

"Sophie, wait!" Thomas tried to say.

"Just leave me alone!" Sophie demanded as she stomped up the hallway.

She walked as fast as she could without going into a full run, wanting to get away before Hermes made his escape so that she could be waiting for him at the front.

"Hey, Sophie, wait up!"

Sophie glanced over her shoulder to see Jake jogging up to her. "What do you want?"

When he finally caught up to her he looked nervous and hopped from foot to foot. "Um, let me walk you to the door."

Sophie smiled, trying to be polite. "That's alright, I know where it is."

"No, please, I'd like to talk to you," Jake insisted.

"Alright, fine," Sophie said and she continued walking, allowing Jake to follow her.

"Look, I just want you to know that not everyone here thinks that way about the alien."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I know that it isn't quite as innocent as I think _you_ think it is, but I also think that it's not as viscous as your brother thinks it is."

"So?"

"So I want you to know that I don't think it'll be dangerous towards you."

"Thank you for your approval," Sophie said, she was nearing the front of the building and didn't know how much longer she'd have to wait until Hermes came.

"Anyway," Jake was saying, "I don't necessarily agree with everything your brother thinks, but I do want a chance to study the aliens more, ya know. Sophie, are you okay?"

Sophie had come to a sudden stop and was listening intently. She could have sworn she had heard the sounds of screaming and she glanced back over her shoulder, but the hallway was deserted.

"Sophie, are you alright?" Jake asked again.

However, before she answered, she heard a distant thud and knew instantly that Hermes had broken free. "Yeah," she finally said, "I'm okay. Can you go now?"

"Why?"

"Just do it," Sophie said, "I don't want you to get in the way."

"Way for what—? Sophie, no, you didn't!"

"You're right," Sophie interrupted, "I didn't."

"It's out, isn't it, the alien?"

A nearby scream answered the question and Jake spun around to stare at the hallway behind them.

"Yeah," Sophie said, "And you should go."

"Why did you do that? He's going to kill everyone!"

"Not if you get out of the way," Sophie said.

Jake, however, didn't have time to move as Hermes suddenly skidded around the corner, bolting toward them. Jake cried out and jumped out of the way. Hermes ran past him and came up alongside Sophie, his tail arched carefully behind him. The reason for that, Sophie saw, was that he had gashed himself along his tail to essentially make a whip-like weapon that sprayed acid.

"Jake, just get out of here," Sophie said. She could tell that Hermes was uneasy by his presence.

"No," Jake said, "I can help you."

Hermes hissed and stepped forward threateningly. Jake paled and backed up slowly.

"Hermes, don't," Sophie said.

Hermes continued to hiss and take steps forward toward Jake.

"Alright, fine," Jake said, "Go on your own. Just know that I want to help you, alright?"

Hermes seemed satisfied by that answer and backed away. Sophie breathed a sigh of relief that Hermes hadn't done anything to Jake. She nodded as Hermes came up along side her.

"Thank you," Sophie said, "It's just safer this way."

"Yeah." Jake didn't seem pleased, but there was nothing he could do without ending up as alien food.


	15. Meeting

The night air was cold as it rushed over Sophie's face. She bowed her head down closer to Hermes's back to try and stifle the cold air a bit better. She didn't know where they were going and every time she tried asking Hermes, he would only hiss. Not being able to understand him, she had given up and decided to wait and see for herself.

After what felt like hours of running, Hermes slowed and came to a stop.

"Where are we?" Sophie asked.

Hermes didn't respond as he crouched lower, scanning the area in front of him. Suddenly, he perked up excitedly and moved forward eagerly. Two more aliens came out of the darkness and hissed a greeting to Hermes. He returned the greeting and moved up alongside them. Sophie watched as the three of them rubbed heads together, letting out strangely calm hisses.

"Where did they come from?" Sophie asked, more to herself than to Hermes.

But Hermes responded anyway with a hiss. The two aliens hissed too and turned around, walking back the way they came. Hermes followed them, more eager now than he had been before. Soon, Sophie saw the entrance to a large opening, noting the "closed" sign in front of it; it was the entrance to the Hive.

"But how—?" Sophie exclaimed in shock.

The three aliens moved into the darkness and Sophie ducked her head to avoid colliding with the low ceiling. What had happened, then? Was the Hive not destroyed? Did her brother miss? Her questions went unanswered as Hermes stepped into a large chamber where Tilda sat in a raised throne. She turned her head when Hermes entered and a loud hiss resonated in her throat. Hermes made his way over to Tilda and crouched down at her feet, giving Sophie the indication to get off. Sophie slide off Hermes back carefully and looked up at Tilda above her. The Queen hissed, directing it toward Hermes. He nodded and started to climb up her back, beckoning Sophie to follow.

Once on Tilda's back, Hermes gestured for Sophie to curl up in the spot just beneath Tilda's crest. Sophie followed his instructions and curled up underneath the giant crest. She closed her eyes, not realizing how tired she was, even though she had been unconscious for a whole day. Her eyelids grew heavy and started to close against her will. Just as she drifted off to sleep, she felt something cool and smooth snuggling up against her body.

* * *

"_Sophie._"

Sophie squeezed her closed eyes tighter as the gentle voice spoke her name again. Her eyes snapped open and she looked around. She was surrounded by waves of darkness that pulsed and shifted like living beings.

"_Welcome, Sophie_," the voice said.

"Who's there?" Sophie asked.

"_It is good to finally be able to speak to you, Sophie_," the voice said instead.

"No, it can't be!"

"_But it is."_

"You're Tilda?"

The voice gave a soft laugh. _"Yes."_

"But how is that possible?"

"_It is a special trait of mine, but I do not exercise it often,"_ Tilda said, _"Ali never knew about it because I never had to use it with her."_

"So I'm dreaming?"

"_When you sleep, you enter a meditative state that opens your mind to my own. So, yes, in a way, it is a dream."_

"Is there a reason you wanted to speak with me?"

"_I would have thought that was obvious; I want to find Ali."_

"I do too," Sophie said.

"_I know that, that is why I came to you."_

"But I don't know how to do that; she's changed a bit."

"_What do you mean?"_

"She was told that I betrayed her and she thinks the Hive got destroyed and that you were dead. How did you survive anyway?"

"_They missed us,"_ Tilda said, _"Even though the bomb did come close, they did not know the exact location of the Hive so they did not know where to strike."_

"Then why didn't you answer Ali when she tried to reach out for you?"

"_I was unable to communicate for a while, not even with my own children," _Tilda said, _"They thought I was dead too until I woke up again. I tried to find Ali, but when I tried to reach her, I could not speak to her."_

"Maybe she's in so much shock that she blocked her mind from your thoughts without realizing it."

"_Whatever is the case, I need your help to find her,"_ Tilda said.

"I don't think that'll be a good idea for me," Sophie replied, "She's kind of mad at me and blaming me for everything."

"_She will learn soon enough that that is not true,"_ Tilda paused, _"I am going to wake you up soon. When you are awake, I want you to immediately leave with Hermes and begin searching for Ali."_

"But what am I supposed to do if she finds me?"

"_Lead her back here at any cost. If she will not listen to you or me, than she will just have to see with her own eyes."_

Sophie recalled what Ali had said to her just before she had left, about returning without her eyes. What did that mean? Sophie hoped she would be able to get Ali to the Queen in time and that Ali didn't get to her first.


	16. The First Attack

Sophie shivered and hugged her arms close to her body. Her breath came out in a stream of vapor in front of her as she let out a long sigh. Hermes glanced back at her over his shoulder and hissed, turning back. They had been searching for weeks and still no sign or trace of Ali. The nights were cold and the days were long. Sophie didn't know how much more of this she could take. But every time she complained, Hermes would hiss at her. Not like he was affected at all, he was an alien.

"Hermes, I know you don't like it when we take breaks, but could you just let me walk around a little bit to try and get some blood circulation?" Sophie asked.

Hermes hissed in aggravation, but bobbed his head and allowed Sophie to slide off his back. She hit the ground and sighed with relief, stretching and shifting to relieve the cramp in her back and the numb sensation in her legs. She walked in slow circles while Hermes moved ahead slightly, eager to continue searching. The buildings around them were dark and silent. At this time of night, it was no surprise, but she still wished that there was at least one light on.

She heard the sound of whooshing air first and she turned slowly as a small object whizzed toward her. There was a slight clink as it hit the ground and rolled to her. Sophie watched as the objected bounced its way toward her, slowly registering what it was. Her eyes widened and she spun around, jumping and covering her head. There was a loud explosion and a wave of heat slammed into her, sending her flying. She landed on her stomach, the air exploding out of her, leaving her gasping and breathless. A couple of lights flickered on, but no one came out to check on the explosion. Hermes turned around and screeched when the explosion went off and was at Sophie's side in a heartbeat. Sophie groaned and clutched her stomach as she sat up, coughing.

"What—?" she tried to say.

Her blood ran cold as a raspy laugh reached her ears. Eyes wide, she turned slowly to look over her shoulder, Hermes' gaze moving along with hers. A large, black cloud of smoke from the explosion hung in the air and from within the slowly settling mass, a lone figure could be seen.

"Ali," Sophie let out in a whisper.

"Yeah," Ali said, her hearing clearly returned, "It's me. You're looking good, oh wait, that's right."

Ali's voice died away as she stepped out of the clearing smoke, finally coming into view. Sophie's breath caught in her throat as Ali was revealed. She was wearing the same black outfit that she had always worn, but it was torn along her midriff. A thick, black belt had been added to her waist, to accommodate the guns and grenades strapped to her sides, as well as a leg pouch where a large knife was stored. Even now, Ali was holding a black pistol tightly in her hand. But that wasn't what had Sophie's attention has her gaze remained fixated on Ali's face. Her hair was tied back in a sloppy bun at a hight point on the back of her head to keep it out of the way. A thick strip of black cloth, probably the material that had made up the rest of Ali's shirt, was wrapped tightly around her eyes, hiding most of her features. The only visible expression on Ali's face was the cold, dark smirk on her lips.

"Ali," Sophie said in a pleading voice.

"I like it much better this way," Ali said, "Can't see what I'm thinking now, can you? But that's alright, I'll tell you. I'm thinking about your body getting torn to shreds."

"How can you—?" Sophie tried to ask.

"See?" Ali finished. "I don't, but that's not a problem, you see, I'm using my other senses, the ones that were affected by the alien DNA. I can literally hear and smell you out. I could have come after you sooner, my hearing healed faster than I intended, but it took a while to adjust to fighting in the dark. I think you could call me an expert, now."

Hermes hissed and snaked his tail around Sophie, pulling her to her feet. His head was focused on Ali and Sophie, though unsure, thought that he was looking at Ali with disappointment. He suddenly turned his gaze on Sophie and, without making a sound, made slight gestures to her, looking from her to his back. Sophie understood the message and clambered on the alien's back. This was the part of the plan she had been dreading for the longest time; they were going to have to lead Ali back to the Hive while she was trying to kill them.

"Hey Sophie," Ali suddenly called. Sophie looked up to see Ali's smirk widening, becoming more twisted and sinister, "Do me a favor and make a clumsy noise so that I can pick up where you are."

"Ali, please, don't do this."

Ali chuckled. "Well, speaking works too."

She raised the gun she had been holding tightly and aimed it directly at Sophie and Hermes.

Sophie's eyes widened. "No," she murmured.

Ali laughed again. "You are really horrible at this, aren't you?"

There wasn't even a split second to register Ali's words before the loud gunfire went off and a stream of bullets rained down on Hermes and Sophie. Hermes dodged the bullets and moved backwards. Fear rose in Sophie's chest as Hermes turned around and broke into a full run; the Hive was at least five blocks away and two blocks over, there was no way this was going to be an easy endeavor.

Hermes dodged another rain of bullets. Sophie struggled to hold on to the alien's thin frame and keep in tuned to his swift movements, but the task proved very difficult.

"What are we supposed to do if we can't outrun her?" Sophie shouted to Hermes.

Hermes responding hiss seemed to say _we fight, _but Sophie didn't know if she would be able to fight Ali, especially when she had guns. She glanced back over her shoulder and was shocked to see that Ali had vanished.

"Hermes, wait," Sophie said.

Hermes hissed and came to a skidding halt. He glanced over his shoulder a low growl resonating in his throat as he scanned the area behind them. Sophie instantly grew worried; Hermes was supposed to have sonic vision, he was supposed to be able to pick out hiding prey, but for some reason he seemed unable to find Ali.

"How can she do this?" Sophie whispered. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the thought of Ali being able to fight in the dark.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash nearby and Hermes whipped around toward the sound. A second later, there was a loud explosion, that knocked Hermes to the side, sending Sophie flying from his back. She hit the ground hard and rolled a couple of times before coming to a stop on her back. She let out a gasp and her body shook in pain. Faintly, in the distance, Sophie could hear the scream of sirens, growing louder with each passing second; someone must have finally called 911. At the sound of footsteps she rolled to her side and looked up. Ali was standing over her, a hand gripped tightly in a fist and her other hand curled around the hilt of a knife.

"You know, I really do feel like I should thank you," Ali said, looking down at Sophie, "I never thought I would have it in me to kill like this, I thought I wouldn't like it, but I do. So to return the favor, I'm going to show off my new style and kill you nice and slow."

She raised the knife and stabbed at Sophie. Sophie turned to the side at the last moment and the knife shattered as it came in contact with the concrete. But that didn't stop Ali as she grabbed a second knife from her belt. In a flash, her fingers latched on to Sophie's neck. Reacting to the touch, Sophie jerked away, freeing her neck, but gasped in pain as Ali's fingers became entangled in her hair, holding her in place.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ali asked, "I'm not finished yet."

Sophie struggled to free her hair, but Ali's iron-like grip was unyielding. Suddenly, Ali let go and Sophie wasted no time getting as far away as she could. When she was a relatively safe distance away, she looked back over her shoulder. Ali was standing straight and rigid, but Sophie was unable to tell what had stopped her. She watched in surprise as Ali dropped to her knees and clutched her ears. Sophie glanced over in a general direction that seemed to have held Ali's interest. She gasped in shock at the figure standing off to the side, holding the sound device in his hand.

"Jake!" Sophie cried.

Jake turned toward Sophie. "It's okay, she's not going anywhere," he shouted to Sophie.

Sophie slowly shook her head; what was he thinking? There was a swift blur as Ali appeared suddenly in front of Jake. He cried out in shock as the knife in Ali's hand arched down and a stream of blood sprayed out from the open wound in Jake's chest. Sophie flew to her feet in an instant, but a hiss made her turn as Hermes suddenly appeared by her side. The alien hissed again and Sophie obliged, climbing back on the alien's back.

"We can't leave Jake here," she said as she settled in as best as she could.

Hermes looked over to where Jake lay and then at Ali, hovering over him and watching him as he slowly bled across the ground. There was a low rumble from within Hermes' throat.

"I don't care," Sophie found herself saying, not thinking about the fact that she almost understood what Hermes was saying, "I can't leave him here!"

Hermes hissed and his tail swept across his back, knocking Sophie off. Sophie managed to hold her footing as she stumbled and then turned on Hermes, to scold him, but was shocked to find him slinking up behind Ali. Getting the picture, Sophie moved away from Ali and Jake and looked around for something that would make a loud noise. She found a rock the size of a baseball and picked it up. Tossing it into the air, she stepped back and allowed it to crash into the ground. Ali whipped around, her covered face focusing on Sophie. Her lips curled up into a sneer, similar to the aliens, and an almost inhuman growl rose up in her throat. Her hand went to the gun at her side, but Sophie wasn't paying attention to her anymore, she was watching as Hermes moved silently over to Jake. The alien moved with surprising grace as he bent down and scooped up the semi-conscious Jake and moved away.

Sophie then turned her attention back to Ali and was shocked to find that she had covered the distance between them and was almost upon her. She backed up quickly, trying hard not to make a sound; Hermes would be coming soon to get her, if she could just avoid Ali until then. Suddenly, Ali's head snapped around, fixing on Sophie.

"You should work on that rasping breathing of yours," Ali said, raising the gun.


	17. More Planning

_Where's Hermes? He isn't going to make it in time. I should move. She's going to shoot me! Why won't my body move?_

A thousand jumbled thoughts clouded Sophie's mind, binding her to the ground, holding her limps in place. There was a loud bang as the gun went off, followed by a burning pain in her right shoulder. She moved then, as she was wrenched to the right in a spasm of pain. She screamed and clung to her shoulder with her good hand. Despite the pain, Sophie realized it was the blindfold that had saved her. Ali had been aiming to kill; if she could have seen where she was shooting, Sophie would be dead right now.

"I missed?" Ali asked.

Sophie looked up, her vision clouding, to see Ali had removed her blindfold. Through the pain, Sophie gasped; Ali's eyes were bloodshot and wide, encircled in black rings, and there was a wild look to them that scared Sophie. There was no compassion in her eyes now, no care, no concern, only dark anger and hatred. There was no way Sophie could talk Ali out of this, she wasn't even sure the plan was going to work after all; Ali would probably kill her before it could be carried out. Suddenly, Ali was flung to the side. Sophie tried to focus on the dark shape in front of her and slowly recognized Hermes.

"Hermes?"

Hermes teeth were bared in a harsh snarl and his tail was poised with the barb aimed at Ali. Jake hung limply from his back, having slipped into full unconsciousness. Sophie looked past Hermes and saw that Ali had gotten to her feet. She was staring at the alien standing protectively between her and Sophie.

"How could you?" she asked, but she wasn't talking to Sophie.

Hermes hissed. Ali's head dipped down and her shoulders started shaking.

"Now I really have to kill you," she said to Sophie, "You've turned my own kind against me!"

"No," Sophie said, but she was struggling to stay conscious and she didn't have the energy to argue.

Ali's hands were clenched into fists as Hermes backed up slowly to Sophie, keeping his sights fixed on Ali. She didn't attack as Sophie weakly pulled herself onto the alien's back. And she didn't follow as Hermes carried the two injured people away.

Sophie forced herself to glance over her shoulder at Ali, still standing in place. Just then, Ali dropped to her knees, her hands on her face, and let out a long, wrenching wail that echoed off the surrounding walls. Light flooded the area as one of the front doors opened and a man stepped out, wearing a robe. Red and blue lights suddenly appeared and there were two cop cars pulling up to the scene. The last thing Sophie heard as she succumbed to the darkness and lost consciousness was the sounds of terrified screams and rapid gunfire.

* * *

Sophie woke up screaming, her nightmare playing again vividly in her mind. She glanced around quickly; she was in the Hive and Jake was kneeling over her, looking down with concern in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Jake asked. He put a hand toward Sophie's forehead. "You're running a slight fever, it's been giving you a rough time."

"Is the bullet still in there?" Sophie asked about her shoulder.

"No," Jake said, "Not anymore at least."

"You removed it?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't pretty."

"How bad is it?" Sophie asked, trying to get a good look at her shoulder, but the strain of moving caused her too much pain.

"Don't worry about it, I patched it up as best as I could; it just has to heal on its own."

"Where's Hermes?"

"He was over with the Queen for a while, I don't know where he is now."

Sophie looked around, she didn't recognize where she was. "Where is Tilda?"

"Who?"

"The Queen?"

"She's back in that giant room, I think it's on the other end of the Hive. She wanted you to stay in this area, the farthest from the rest of the actual Hive, until you recovered enough, there's a lot of bacteria in the Hive and she didn't want to get you hurt. At least, that was the gist of what she was saying."

"Thank you so much for all of this, Jake," Sophie said.

"Don't mention it, although you were right; I just got in the way."

"Nonsense, if you hadn't of done something, Ali would have killed me a lot sooner, thank you."

"So what's the plan now?"

"What do you mean?"

"How are we going to find Ali?"

"You're going to help?"

"Well yeah," Jake said, "I want this to be over just as much as you do with as little bloodshed as possible. Besides," he added with a chuckle, "I'm kind of stuck here until Ali comes back."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure why they need my help, but when I tried to leave, they almost tore me apart."

"I think I know," Sophie said.

"Yeah?"

"You know about the clones, right, how they work and stuff? You helped make them."

"Yeah, so?"

"Some of them got loose, remember?" Sophie said, "They're going to want to have them destroyed once we get Ali back."

"You mean, _if_, we get Ali back," Jake said.

"I need some positiveness," Sophie said.

Jake chuckled, but was cut short when an alien walked through.

"Where's Hermes?" Sophie asked when she saw that this was not her new friend.

The alien hissed and gestured with his head. Jake helped Sophie to her feet and supported her as they walked out of the room and down a long tunnel. Sophie was again surprised at the apparent massive size of the Hive; it had to stretch for miles in the underground tunnels. Tilda must have really been worried about Sophie getting sick, secluding her to a far part of the Hive until she recovered.

A second later they entered the Queen's chamber. Tilda turned her gaze toward them as they stepped up to her and a gentle hiss resonated from deep within her throat.

"So what's the plan?" Jake asked Sophie once they were closer to Tilda.

"Same as before, I guess, we have to find Ali and bring her here; she thinks the Hive was destroyed, which it obviously wasn't, and Tilda wants her to see for herself."

"So I expect that you're going to be going on these missions too?"

"Of course, why?"

Jake started looking uncomfortable. "Well, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't get involved anymore."

Sophie's eyes narrowed. "And why not?"

"Because, Ali wants to kill you and she's almost succeeded twice."

"I still have to do this."

"You're not using any sense! You've been shot twice, the first time you had a hospital to save you, this time you got lucky; it was a miracle that I was able to treat you in these conditions."

"I'll be fine," Sophie insisted.

"You're being stupid!"

"You don't understand, I have to do this. Ali blames me for everything; I have to make things right, I'm the only one who can."

Jake opened his mouth to continue arguing, but an angry hiss silenced him and caused him to pale. Sophie looked up at Tilda to see that the Queen's teeth were bared and she didn't look happy.

Sophie sighed. "Look, Tilda's right, we need to stop arguing and focus on—"

Sophie was cut off by another growl resonating in Tilda's throat. She looked up at the Queen in confusion, realizing she had misinterpreted what she had been referring to.

"Um," Jake hesitated, "I think Tilda agrees with me on this one."

"No!" Sophie exclaimed, "I have to do this; it's my fault Ali's like this!"

"Sorry, but I think Tilda understands the danger in this toward you."

"The danger would be the same if you went," Sophie said.

"And? It's not like I mean anything to them," Jake said. He paused. "Wait, did I just say that?"

Sophie found herself laughing in spite of the situation. Jake smiled too and the tense mood seemed to lessen a bit, but not by much, Tilda's hiss reminded Sophie that there was a job to do still.

"Alright, no more arguing," Sophie said, "I'm going to find Ali and there is nothing that either of you can say to stop me."

Jake looked up at Tilda and gave a shrug. "If she's anything like her brother, than it's no surprise that she doesn't want to give up."

"Thank you," Sophie said. "Now that that's settled, let's get down to business."

"Were do we start?" Jake asked.

Sophie started pacing as she thought. "I think the first place we should be looking is the more emptier parts of town."

"Why?"

"Because she has to have a home base somewhere where she knows that it won't be found by stray humans; that rules out the more populated areas."

"Right, that also leaves room for a trap for us."

"We have to take that risk," Sophie said and then added, "We'll searching during the day. Because Ali's element is during night, she won't be active much during the day."

"Which leaves us with another problem."

"What's that?" Sophie asked, coming to a halt.

Jake sighed. "The clone. We designed her to be active during the day, unlike Ali, so they would be more ideal fighters."

"Oh."

"But we shouldn't worry; the clone's not coming after you."

"Right, we just have to make sure we don't run into her."

"Right."

"Okay then, let's head out."


	18. The Second Attack

Sophie looked left, then right, took two steps forward and twirled in a slow circle, scanning. "Nope, not here."

"This is really stressful," Jake said from Hermes' back.

"Tell me about it," Sophie said, "At least this time it's during the day and we're not freezing like I was before."

"Yeah, thank God for those little miracles."

Once again, Sophie found herself laughing in spite of the situation they were in. But the mood didn't last for long; they had to keep searching.

"Let's get moving," Sophie said.

She started walking back to Hermes when a streaking blur flew right at her. She didn't have time to react as the thing barreled into her side and sent her flying away from Hermes and Jake.

"Sophie!" Jake cried.

Sophie groaned and pushed herself to her hands and knees, looking up. Ali stood above her, her head cocked to the side, studying Sophie.

"Ali, what are you doing out at this time of day?" Sophie asked in shock.

Ali cocked her head to the side and didn't respond.

"Ali?" Sophie asked again, but stopped short. Something caught her eye on Ali's neck.

_What is that?_ Sophie wondered, squinting. It was the number 3. Sophie understood instantly; this wasn't Ali at all, it was one of her clones.

The clone Ali's head cocked to the other side before she bent down and grasped the front of Sophie's shirt and yanked her into the air. Sophie's feet dangled off the ground, but she was too terrified to try and kick her way free. But before the clone could do anything, there was a loud crack and the clone dropped Sophie, clutching its arm and gurgling in pain.

"I'd back off, if I were you."

Sophie's head turned slowly and was hit with more shock as she saw Ali standing with her gun raised and her eyes dark and narrowed.

"Why are you saving me?" Sophie asked.

Ali's eyes flickered off the clone for a second to glare at Sophie. "Don't be flattered; I'm not protecting you, I'm saving you for myself."

"Oh," Sophie's spirits dropping, "Should have guessed."

The clone shrieked and turned its gaze to Ali. Ali returned the gaze and cocked the gun in her hand. The clone hissed and darted back and forth in a zig-zag, trying to throw Ali's gun off, but Ali followed its movements smoothly.

"Silly clone," Ali said, "You can't escape from the real deal."

The clone hissed as Ali pulled the trigger. The shot struck the clone directly in the chest and dark blood oozed out slowly. The clone hissed and darted forward toward Ali, but Ali didn't run or move out of the way. She allowed the clone to hit her straight on and the two rolled together in a twisted ball of limbs. There was a sick ripping sound and something landed close to Sophie, who had remained where she had been dropped, watching the carnage unfold, she glanced down at the object and saw that it was a severed arm, still twitching. She screamed and scrambled away.

"Sophie!" Jake cried.

Sophie glanced over her shoulder to see him running toward her, with Hermes close behind.

"We need to get out of here," Sophie said.

"Yeah, don't need to tell me twice," Jake replied, eyeing the severed arm, "Who's winning?"

Sophie glanced back at the ongoing fight. So far the victor seemed to be Ali, but the clone was holding her own with only one arm as Ali was bleeding from two wounds across her face. Suddenly, Ali's hand slammed into the clone's chest. Blood sprayed up her arm and splattered her face. The clone's agonizing wails ripped through the air as its body twitched and flailed underneath Ali.

"I'll take this," Ali said, ripping her hand away from the clone's chest.

"Oh God," Sophie said in shock, "Is that what I think it is?"

Judging from the way the clone stopped struggling, and the way the thing in Ali's hand twitched, Sophie was sure that the object was the clone's heart.

"Yeah," Jake answered, "She ripped the clone's heart right out of its chest!"

Ali looked up from the dead clone, dropping the still twitching heart next to it, and rose to her feet.

"Your turn," Ali said, looking at Sophie.

"Get up, run!" Jake ordered, grabbing at Sophie and hauling her to her feet.

Hermes appeared next to them in a heartbeat and they climbed up quickly onto his back.

"You won't get away this time!" Ali screamed, giving chase.

"Take us back to the Hive, Hermes!" Sophie shouted.

Hermes took off, running down alleyways, keeping away from humanization. Ali was following along them perfectly, the plan was working.

"What happens if she stops following us?" Jake asked.

"We keep going to the Hive in case she's going to ambush us," Sophie replied.

She looked over her shoulder to see that Ali was far enough back that she was unable to get a decent shot, but close enough to keep on chasing them.

"I think this is going to work," Jake exclaimed.

"Let's hope so."


	19. Everything back to normal

Ali came to a stop as Hermes ran into one of the Hive's entrances.

"What kind of trick is this?" she demanded.

"Oh no," Sophie whispered, "She's not going to come in."

"No trick," Jake said loudly, "Come and get us!"

"What are you doing?" Sophie asked.

"Goading."

"You're insane!"

"It worked," Jake said, nodding over his shoulder.

Sure enough, Ali was coming after them again. Hermes ran down the tunnel, making his way toward the center of the Hive and the Queen's chamber. The sound of Ali's pursuing echoed off the walls. Gunshots followed quickly, striking the walls above and around Hermes. He jerked back and forth, trying to avoid the shots and keep Sophie and Jake on his back as best as he could. Sophie held on to Jake for dear life and closed her eyes. Suddenly, Hermes took a sharp turn and the gunshots ceased.

"What's going on?" Sophie asked when she glanced over her shoulder and saw that Ali wasn't following them anymore.

"I think she's trying to come at us from a different way," Jake said, "We just have to hope we can stay ahead of her and get to the Hive first."

Following his statement, Hermes burst into the Queen's chamber and went straight for Tilda. Sophie and Jake slid off Hermes's back quickly and stood waiting. However, they didn't have to wait long before Ali came in through one of the other entrances and came to an immediate, skidding halt. She looked up at Tilda, her eyes wide and filled with shock. She looked around at the aliens gathered in the chamber. At last her eyes moved to Sophie. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she lifted the gun in the air.

"Ali, no!" Sophie cried.

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, there was no stopping Ali, even after seeing that Tilda was still alive, the only thing she could do now was brace and wait for the end to come. But the end didn't come, instead, a deep hiss resonated in the air. Sophie opened her eyes to see Ali standing stiffly, the gun quivering in her hand.

"What's happening?" Jake asked.

"It looks like Tilda is trying to reach out to Ali to try and talk to her."

"Does that mean we're not going to die?"

"I think so," Sophie replied as Ali slowly lowered her weapon, "Come on, they need some time alone."

She and Jake moved away slowly as Ali approached Tilda. She made it directly under the Queen before she collapsed into tears. Sophie looked over her shoulder as the aliens gathered around Ali, hissing gently and rubbing their heads against her.

"Good job, Sophie," Jake said.

Sophie only nodded, watching as the aliens surrounded Ali. Tears were sliding down her cheeks as she watched Ali hug each alien tightly. She suddenly felt tired from all that had been happening lately and she leaned back against the wall. Her eyes drifted close not a second later and she slowly fell asleep.

* * *

Sophie was aware of someone shaking her gently. She let out a soft groan and tried to shove whoever it was away.

"Sophie!" a sharp voice snapped, causing Sophie to open her eyes instantly.

"Ali!" Sophie exclaimed in gratitude, "You're okay."

Ali glanced over at Jake, still sleeping, and motioned for Sophie to come with her. Sophie got up and followed Ali to a different corner of the Hive. The aliens lounging around watched them as they passed, but they stayed where they were.

"What's going on, is everything alright?" Sophie asked.

"Everything is fine, thanks to you. I owe you an apology."

"No, that's not necessary."

"Oh please, I shot you in the leg and in the shoulder and I was prepared to kill you the next chance I got."

"I know that wasn't you, well, not the normal you, anyway. What I'm trying to say is that I understand and it's no big deal."

Ali smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Sophie said, returning the smile.

Ali became uncomfortable and looked away for a few minutes. When she turned back, her eyes were sorrowful. "There's another reason I wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah, what is it?" A knot formed in Sophie's throat. She had a feeling she knew what Ali was going to say, but she couldn't bring herself to ask.

"It's your brother," Ali finally said, "he has to die."


	20. A Tough Choice

"My brother? Why?"

"What he's doing, it has to be stopped."

"But why do you have to kill him?"

"Because he'll never stop. You and I both know that as long as your brother's still alive, he will never stop trying to build his ultimate army. That is why he has to be killed."

"I can't believe this; you're supposed to be against killing."

Ali sighed. "Sophie, just because I blamed you doesn't mean that everything I said was a lie."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that I really do enjoy killing now."

Sophie was taken aback and she didn't know what to say. Luckily, she didn't have to, Ali got a call from Tilda and left to go see what the Queen wanted, giving Sophie some time alone. The words Ali had said continued to spiral and swirl around in her head; _"It's your brother, he has to die."_No, there had to be another way, there had to be! She couldn't let Thomas be killed, despite all that he had done. She got up and moved over to Jake, nudging him gently.

"Jake, wake up," she whispered.

Jake grunted. "Huh, what?"

"Jake, I have a problem."

"What is it?" Jake asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Ali is going to kill Thomas!"

"What?" Jake exclaimed, the tired look gone from his face, "Why?"

"She thinks she has to stop him from creating a clone army."

"Can you talk her out of it?"

Sophie shook her head. "I doubt it, she seems pretty set in doing this and I don't want to think about what would happen if I got in her way."

"What are you talking about? She wouldn't try to kill you, would she?"

"It's hard to tell, she did admit to me that she enjoys killing now, but I don't know if she still holds the same ideals that she used to."

"What are we going to do? We can't let her kill Thomas."

They both looked over at Ali and were taken aback to see her pacing back and forth angrily in front of Tilda. She seemed unaware of Sophie's and Jake's conversation as she waved her hands around, her expression slowly becoming more and more angry.

"What's going on?" Jake whispered.

"I think she's talking to Tilda," Sophie guessed.

Ali stopped pacing, crossed her arms, and turned her back on Tilda, huffing.

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked.

She and Jake moved over to Ali so none of them had to shout across the Hive to be heard.

"She doesn't want me killing Thomas."

"That's great!" Sophie exclaimed happily.

"No, that's bad; killing Thomas is the only way, why can't either of you see that?"

Tilda let out an angry hiss and Ali flinched, her expression changing from angry to pained.

"Sorry," Ali said aloud, "I know you don't like this, but—"

Tilda hissed.

"What's she saying?"

"She's siding with you; thinking we can change his mind, threaten him to make him stop. But the question is; will he ever stop?"

Sophie sighed, hanging her head. "No."

"So you understand that the only logical thing to do is to kill him."

"Look, just because it's logical doesn't mean that it's okay," Sophie said, "He's my brother and I can't let you kill him."

Tilda hissed again, but this time Ali smiled.

"What does that smile mean?" Jake asked.

"Tilda thinks that if it's the only thing to do, then we have to do it."

"Please, let me come along," Sophie begged, "I have to see him one last time."

Ali's eyes narrowed. "Alright, but if you come along it's not so that you can jump in front of him to try and protect him. If you're coming it'll be only to say good-bye and then you have to let me finish him off."

Sophie struggled to hold back her tears as she nodded in understanding.


	21. Not All of Them

The building stood before them. Scaffolding covered the large hole that Ali had made on her first visit. She was eyeing the damage with a strange look that Sophie couldn't decipher. The three extra aliens Tilda had sent for security hissed uneasily, as if they sensed something as well.

"Come on," Ali finally said, leading the way.

Sophie followed Ali and Hermes, glancing at Jake as she did. The look on his face said that he had also been watching Ali and was equally stumped as to the expression on her face.

"She almost looks happy," Jake murmured in Sophie's ear.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, that was the same look she had when she came over to talk to you."

"You were awake?" Sophie asked.

"I knew that Ali wanted to talk to you, so I just closed my eyes when she got closer," Jake said by way of explanation, "Anyway, that's just my thought."

"But what would she be happy about? Surely she isn't excited about killing my brother?"

"No, it was when she was looking at the damage she had caused earlier. When I first saw her looking, I thought she was looking on with guilt, but now I'm not too sure."

"Are you guys coming? Or do you still want to talk?" Ali asked, from ahead.

Sophie glanced up and saw that she and Jake had slowed down as they talked, leaving them far behind Ali and Hermes, who were already climbing underneath the scaffolding to get into the building. Sophie picked up her pace, with Jake right behind her, and decided that, for now, she would dismiss Ali's reaction.

Ali and Hermes lead the way through the hallways, both of them seeming pretty sure on where they were going. The sound of voices quickly reached them and Sophie was able to recognize where they were going; the lab where her brother had been working on his Ali clones.

Thomas was talking to two scientists and there were two men standing off to the side, obviously on guard. They stiffened when they caught sight of Ali and then paled when Hermes, along with the other three aliens, stepped in.

"Um, Thomas, sir," one of the guards said.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Visitors to see you," the guard replied.

Thomas, at first, didn't break off his conversation, rather, looked up with enough acknowledgement to let them know he knew they were there, but that he would finish his conversation first. The words he had been saying at the time, however, dried up in his throat when he saw who was standing in his door way.

Ali smirked. "Well hello, we just fancy a word with you."

The four aliens jumped forward, each one aiming at one of the four other people in the room. The two guards cried out as the aliens came upon them and tried to draw their weapons. But the aliens were faster and pounced with unmatched grace. Fountains of blood squirted out and the guards cried out in pain as their stomachs were sliced open. The two scientists backed up as the Hermes and the other alien approached them, fear evident in their eyes. However, the aliens didn't kill them, only forced them further away from Thomas, leaving him isolated.

"So, this is it?" Thomas asked, smirking, "You're going to kill me now?"

"Not yet," Ali said, stepping forward.

Sophie and Jake tried to follow, but they were blocked off by the two aliens that had disposed of the guards.

"What's your plan?" Thomas asked.

"I know that you have tracking devices installed in the clones you created," Ali said, "That way you could track them down if they ever did escape."

"Yeah, so?"

"So you're going to tell me where the last clone is," Ali said.

"What if I choose not to give you the information?"

"Then you'll die."

"But you need me to get it."

"No, not really, I found the other one on my own. You'll just be making it easier on me if you cooperate."

Thomas shook his head. "Why should I? You're still going to kill me."

"You're right, I am," Ali replied.

Thomas glanced around Ali and his eyes met with Sophie's. She could see the terror in his eyes and when she tried to look away, she found that she could not.

"Sophie," Thomas said, his voice strained, "Don't let her kill me!"

Sophie stared at her brother. "What do you want me to do?"

"I'm your brother, we're family!" Thomas shouted.

"I was wondering how long it would take for that statement to come out," Ali said. She looked over her shoulder and addressed Sophie. "You realize this was his plan all along. The only reason he was nice to you was so that when I came to kill him, you wouldn't be able to stand by and watch him die."

"That's not true!" Thomas insisted, "I—"

"I know," Sophie said.

Thomas and Ali stared at her in shock.

"You do?" Ali asked.

"I've always known that there had to have been some kind of reason for the kind behavior."

"And you still want me to spare him?" Ali demanded.

"Yes, of course," Sophie said, "What he said is true; he's my brother and my family."

"I grow tired of this," Ali said, "We have more important business. Are you going to tell me where the clone is or not?"

Thomas looked up at Ali, his face now unreadable. He nodded and spun around in his chair, propelling himself over to a row of computers. His fingers flew over the keys and a large map flashed up on the screen, with a red light blinking in the corner.

"There she is," Thomas said, "Not that far from here actually."

"Great, I want to get this over with," Ali said.

"A little warning, if I may," Thomas said, a smug smile appearing across his face.

"What are you smiling about?"

"That clone, it's the Fourth, isn't it?" Thomas's grin widened.

Jake paled. "No."

"What is it?" Sophie asked.

"We are so doomed," Jake said.

"Why?" Ali asked.

"Because the Fourth was the most advanced out of all the clones. And I had made a few modifications to her of my own. She is virtually indestructible," Thomas said.

"You have that much faith in a clone that wants to destroy you too?"

"Yes, I do. Because you won't be able to beat her," Thomas said with that smug look of his.

What happened next went all too fast. Thomas jumped up from his chair and swung at Ali, who stood unmoving. A long gash appeared on Ali's cheek and blood ran down her face. Sophie glanced at Thomas in surprise to find him holding a small pocket knife tightly in his hands, the blade already bubbling and dissolving. In the next second, one of the scientists pressed a button on a separate panel of switches which triggered a massive smoke cloud to fill the room. Sophie moved closer to Jake, coughing as the smoke filled her nose and mouth. The air was ripped with the sounds of screams.

When the smoke cleared, it became clear who the screams had belonged to; the two scientists lay dead, sprawled in their own blood. Ali, Hermes, and Thomas were nowhere to be found.

"Where'd they go?" Jake asked.

"You stay here with these three and wait."

"Where are you going?"

"To find my brother."

"You're not going to save him in time," Jake shouted after her as she ran out the door.

Sophie looked left and then right before taking the hallway on her left. There was a door at the far end that hung open and she had a feeling that was the direction her brother went. But when she got closer she was astounded to find that it was stairs that would lead to the roof. Nevertheless, she followed them up, hoping she wouldn't be too late.

Sophie flung the door open, her heart racing and her breath coming out in panicked gasps having run up the entire flight of stairs to the roof. However, she hadn't been fast enough.

Thomas was laying on his back, letting out gurgled and pained breaths, and Sophie soon saw why. His throat had been slashed, the wound bubbling and hissing. Ali was standing over him, the knife in one hand while the other was dripping with her blood.

"No," Sophie choked.

Ali's head shot up and her eyes met with Sophie. The satisfied, victorious look evaporated and was replaced with a strange look of guilt. Before Sophie could speak further or move, Ali dropped down swiftly and drove the knife into Thomas's heart, killing him instantly.

"What the hell were you doing?" Sophie demanded when she finally found her voice.

Ali didn't respond as she rose up from Thomas's now motionless body and moved to stand at the edge of the roof. "I'm sorry," she finally said.

"You were enjoying yourself, weren't you," Sophie asked, recalling the conversation from earlier.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"Sorry isn't good enough! I can't believe this, I know you said you enjoyed killing, but I never thought you would ever do something like this. I thought you were all about mercy, how can you just change that into someone who makes people suffer!"

"I need help," Ali interrupted.

"What?" Sophie demanded, she didn't want Ali changing the subject on her.

"I scare her."

"Who?"

"Tilda."

Sophie was taken aback. "What does that mean?"

"In all the time I've known Tilda, from the time she was Timothy to the time that she turned into a Queen, the only time I've seen her afraid was when my life was in danger. But never have I seen her terrified_ of_ me. She's seen the darkness in me and it scares her. I don't know what to do."

This was the first time Sophie had seen Ali show anything other than confidence so she was at a loss on what to say. "Look," she finally said, "Don't worry, there has to be a way to return things to normal."

"How?"

"You just have to remember the reason why you wanted to save people in the first place."

"I wanted them to think of me as something other than a monster; as a good person with good intentions."

"Then you just have to keep thinking that and then in no time you'll be back to the way you were."

"What's the point?"

"Huh?"

"Face it, Sophie, humans see me as one thing and one thing only; a freak."

Sophie smiled and placed a hand on Ali's shoulder. "Not all of them," she said.


	22. Final Fight

"We're going," Ali said, appearing in the doorway.

"Now? What happened?" Jake asked.

Sophie leaned against the door and waited as Ali conversed with the three aliens.

"Sophie?" Jake asked, "What's going on?"

The three aliens hissed and darted past Sophie, running out into the hall. As the sound of their claws clicking off the floor faded, Ali checked the magazines on her guns before moving back to the door. Sophie turned and followed her out.

"Wait, is anyone going to tell me what's going on?"

Hermes stepped up alongside Jake, hissing.

"What happened up there?"

Hermes only hissed and walked out after them. Jake sighed and followed.

* * *

It was almost morning as the four moved down the empty street, but the dark clouds in the sky made it hard to tell. The buildings on either side had been deserted a long time ago and had been left for ruin. The long wrought iron fence that surrounded the buildings was rusted so bad that it had fallen apart in some places. It seemed like the ideal location for the Fourth to stake out its territory.

"Look," Jake said after the long silence, "I feel like I've given you enough time, but now someone really needs to tell me what happened back there."

Ali didn't say anything.

"Thomas is dead," Sophie stated what Jake had already assumed.

"Oh," Jake said, "Um, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be."

Ali came to a sudden stop before Jake could respond. "She's here."

Lightening suddenly flashed across the sky.

"Where?" Sophie asked, looking around.

"She's watching us," Ali said, looking up.

Sophie looked up too, but the rooftops looked empty. "Alright, let's get this thing over."

Ali stuck her arm out in front of Sophie before she could start walking. "You're staying here."

"What?"

"Hermes, you too."

Hermes hissed.

"Hey, you're going to need our help," Jake said, "Thomas may have been over exaggerating about the indestructible bit, but the Fourth is the strongest and most developed of all the clones."

"Which is why you aren't coming with me; you wouldn't be able to keep up in a fight with her. I'm not going to put you in danger."

"You can't do that—!"

Sophie cut off as a lone figure suddenly stepped out into the open, coming to a stop under a dimly lit street light. Another flash lit up everything for a moment just as the rain started to come down in heavy buckets.

"Great, rain," Sophie mumbled.

"The rain's a good thing," Ali said.

"Huh?"

"I don't know why, but the affects of my blood is weakened in the rain."

"So it takes longer for your blood to burn through things?"

"Yeah, and so if you just happen to get in the way the chances of you getting hurt from it will be slimmer."

"You're expecting to get hurt, aren't you?" Sophie asked.

Ali didn't answer.

"So, we finally meet."

Sophie's mouth dropped; the Fourth could talk!

"Don't look so surprised, I just told you she was the most developed," Jake said.

"You three, stay here," Ali said and she stepped away from them.

Hermes hissed in protest, but he didn't pursue Ali, rather, moved closer to Sophie and Jake to stand more protectively in front of them.

Ali came to a stop only a few feet in front of the Fourth. For a while, neither moved and Sophie was reminded of an old western movie where the sheriff faced off with the criminal.

"We can't just let her fight that thing alone," Sophie said.

"Too late," Jake said as Ali pulled out two guns.

The Fourth leapt back and spun, moving faster than the other clone had and was able to dodge most of the bullets; only two managed to penetrate, however the wounds were already starting to heal.

"You never mentioned that," Sophie said in shock.

"What? I thought it was obvious when I said more advanced, plus, she's a clone of Ali; she's already got high-powered healing."

"We have to help her; the Fourth is too fast for bullets, I think this might come down to skills rather than fire-power."

"Maybe if we can provide a distraction, Ali can get in and finish it off," Jake suggested.

"Hermes?" Sophie asked, looking to her left, but Hermes wasn't there. "Where'd he go?"

Jake looked around too. "There is his!"

Sophie spotted Hermes scaling the wall of the nearest building, working his way around the Fourth. Once he was behind the Fourth, he waited for a chance to pounce. That moment came when the Fourth managed to get close enough to Ali to land a punch, sending her flying.

Hermes hissed as Ali slammed into the ground and pounced at the Fourth. However, it caught sight of Hermes and dodged out of the way just in time. Hermes landed heavily inches away from the Fourth and tried to lash out with a clawed arm. The Fourth smiled and grabbed Hermes's harm, pulling hard. Hermes's shriek sounded almost like a human scream as, with a loud crack, his arm was dislocated from his shoulder. He collapsed at the Fourth's feet, writhing in pain.

"Oh my god," Jake said.

"I'll go check on Hermes, you go check on Ali," Sophie said, already moving toward the fallen alien.

The Fourth had abandoned Hermes and had moved back to Ali, who was slowly struggling to her feet.

"Ali?" Jake asked when he got closer, "Are you alright?"

"Get out of the way," Ali said, her voice strained.

Jake looked up to see the Fourth coming. He grabbed Ali's arm and tried to pull her up. "Come on!"

But he couldn't get her up in time. He looked up to see the Fourth preparing for an attack and he moved without thinking to stand in front of Ali. The blow was immense and Jake fell to his knees as the wind was knocked out of him and black stars danced in front of his eyes. He was unable to recover as the Fourth readied for the final blow. Ali managed to get to her feet and she jumped in front of Jake just in time to take the slash to her face. She fell to her knees and groaned in pain. The Fourth studied Ali in shock, as if she couldn't understand why someone would risk their life for someone else.

"Why would you do that?" Jake asked in shock.

"You weren't supposed to get in the way," Ali replied.

"No," the Fourth said, "You weren't, but thanks, though."

Her movements were too swift to follow, but in the next second, she flung Ali back into the fence with enough force to break it. She moved in to stand above Ali and grabbed one of the broken fence posts, swinging it high. Ali tried to grab her knife, but was too slow.

"No, wait!" Sophie screamed, but her plea was drowned out by Ali's blood-curling cry of agony.

Ali dropped the knife to grasp the post with both hands, but was losing strength and couldn't pull it free. The Fourth watched her struggle for a minute before picking up the dropped knife and turning around, turning her attention and moving in on Sophie who was unable to do anything as she was slowly backed up against the wall.

"Ali!" Sophie cried.

Ali looked up and tried to rise, despite the fact that she was coughing up blood, but she only collapsed back on the ground. The fence post sizzled weakly as it was soaked in Ali's blood covered hands, but it was too rain-soaked to completely dissolve.

"Hey," the Fourth said. Sophie looked up slowly to see the Fourth smiling, "Don't worry about her, she'll be dead soon. Just like you."

Suddenly, the Fourth's head exploded in a grisly firework display of blood and gore. Sophie ducked and most of the blood slashed harmlessly on the wall behind her, while a few drops landed on her shoe. Luckily, she was able to kick off her shoe just as she felt the painful sting of the Fourth's blood. Wondering what had happened, she looked up to see Ali clutching a gun in one hand while the other still clutched the fence post.

"Screw skills," Ali murmured weakly, dropping the gun.

Sophie jumped to her feet and ran over to Ali's side. "Ali! Are you alright?"

Ali attempted to sit up, but, her stomach curled, she let out another wail and fell back.

"Try not to move," Sophie said, "Jake! Get over here, I need your help!"

"One moment," Jake replied, his voice strained.

Sophie glanced over her shoulder to see Jake supporting a wounded Hermes.

"Hermes," Ali said when she saw the alien.

Once Jake was close enough, he lowered Hermes carefully to the ground to avoid putting stress on the injured limb and moved over to Sophie.

"Help me lift Ali; we need to get her to a hospital immediately."

"No! No hospitals!"

"You need help," Sophie said.

"What do you think will happen, huh? I have acid blood; the bandages will just be burned away. They'll just think I'm a freak."

"What am I supposed to do? I can't let you die!"

"There's nothing you can do," Ali gasped out.

Sophie shook her head, tears falling down her face.

"Maybe we can do something," Jake said, coming around to Ali's other side, "Help me pull the fence post out."

"You think that'll help?"

"Might as well give it a try."

"Ali, this is going to hurt, just hang in there, alright?"

Ali nodded and closed her eyes. Sophie and Jake both grasped the fence post and pulled. Ali let out another scream of agony as the post pulled out of her stomach. However, as the fence came free, more blood started pumping out.

"She's going to bleed to death!" Sophie exclaimed, "Do something, Jake!"

"What do you expect me to do?"

Before either of them could continue the argument, they were cut off by the sound of an irritated hiss. They looked up to see that Hermes had gotten to his feet and had positioned his head over Ali's wound. He began opening and closing his mouth, like he was chewing, and a thick, dark, strand of goo-like material came out. The goo-material landed on Ali's wound and began hardening.

"What is that?" Sophie asked.

Ali lifted her head to look and a smile appeared on her face. "Good job, Hermes."

"What is he doing?"

Jake examined the strand. "This looks an awful lot like the secretion material that the Hive is made out of."

"That's right," Ali said, "It's strong, resilient, and most importantly, it's resistant to our acid blood."

"So this will stop the bleeding?"

"Yeah, it will."

"What are we supposed to do now? We can't carry both Ali and Hermes back to the Hive."

"You won't have to," Ali said, already looking better, "They'll take us."

"Who?" Sophie asked looking around.

As if waiting for a queue, four aliens appeared out of nowhere and slinked toward the group. Two of them moved in on either side of Hermes and lifted him up, taking him immediately back to the Hive.

"So, what now?" Sophie asked.

Ali waited until she was lifted up by one of the two remaining aliens, flinching slightly as her stomach shifted. "Apollo is going to take me back to the Hive so that I can recover."

"But what about us?" Sophie asked.

Ali smiled. "Go live a life together, forget about all of this, be happy. You guys are great for each other."

"But I don't want to forget about you," Sophie said.

"And I don't want you to either, but it will be different from your mother; you will be hearing from me again."

Sophie smiled as the two aliens flew past her. She watched them disappear around the corner just as the rain let up. She felt a hand slip into hers and she looked up to see Jake smiling down at her.

"You think she's going to keep killing people?"

Sophie smiled. "No. That look in her eye; we restored her trust in humans."

Sophie squeezed Jake's hand. "She's right, you know."

"About what?"

"Us, being good for each other."

"Yeah?"

"Think about it, you know that there's a girl out there, with a family of aliens. That's got to be the greatest secret in the world."

"I see what you're getting at," Jake said, his grin widening.

"It'll be nice not having to hide that."

"Yeah," Jake said, "It will."

**A/N Wow, sorry this took forever, but I just couldn't get it the way I wanted. Hope you enjoy it, only one more chapter left.**

**~Ali Wenstern**


	23. Epilogue

Come on, Gabbie," Sophie said, "into bed."

Sophie reached down to pick up her four year old daughter, but Gabrielle danced away, twirling her nightgown like a ball gown and giggling. "I don't wanna go to bed!"

"Sweetie, it's past your bedtime, let's go."

"Will you tell me a story?"

"Which one would you like?"

Gabrielle jumped onto her bed and scrambled under the sheets. "I want to hear Ali's story!"

"Alright, Ali it is," Sophie said.

"You're still telling that story?" A voice said from the door.

Sophie smiled and twisted to see her eight year old son standing in his sister's doorway.

"What's the matter, Max, you don't like it anymore?" she asked.

"Please, Mom, she's just a story," Max said.

"Alright, then you can go back to your room and have Dad read you a big boy story," Sophie said.

"Well," Max said, "Maybe I could just hear it one more time."

Sophie smiled knowingly and waited for Max to clamber up on the bed next to his sister before beginning. "Her name is Ali and she, along with her Greek friend, Hermes, protect the people of our world. She is sweet and playful. But, even though she loves to have fun, she doesn't forget the duties she has to the rest of the world. She's always there for you if you need her, always willing to help. And you know, they say, that on clear nights when the moon is shining brightly, you can hear the sound of her laughing and playing with her friends."

"How come I've never heard her?" Max asked, skeptical again.

"That's because you weren't listening," Sophie answered.

Gabbie pushed the covers off of her and moved over to her open window, leaning out. Sophie followed her and placed two hands on her daughter's thin shoulders. "Hear anything yet?"

Gabbie narrowed her eyes, obviously straining to hear something. Suddenly, a quiet, bell-like laugh rose into the night air.

"I heard her, I heard her!" Gabbie exclaimed in joy.

"Me too!" Max exclaimed, his eyes wide in surprise.

Sophie smiled. "Now how about getting to bed, like you promised."

Gabbie pulled away from the window, planted a kiss on Sophie's cheek and hopped back into bed. Max gave Sophie a kiss too before leaving his sister's room to return to his room down the hall. Sophie walked over to Gabbie's bed and pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Good night, sweetie," Sophie said, kissing her daughter's forehead.

"Good night, Mommy," Gabbie said, her eyes already closed.

Sophie straightened and walked to the door. When she reached it, with her hand on the light switch, she took one last look out the window. And she could have sworn that she saw, in the light of the full moon, a young girl's outline, hair blowing in the wind.


End file.
